When I was about to start writing regarding the US Federal Government and cannabis my mind went blank for a few moments. Not because I did not have enough material but because I did not know where to start. I had reached the Ground Zero in the world wide war on cannabis, the country (along with the UK and Canada) from where the modern push started to ensure that cannabis was taken away from the entire world and the country which even today continues to work to keep cannabis as a prohibited plant worldwide while its own individual states, one by one, rebel against its absurd, discriminatory and unjust cannabis laws that have resulted in unimaginable damage to health and environment world wide. The industries competing with cannabis, the ones that the US Federal government desired to protect by banning the 28 million year old medicinal recreational herb, a herb to live with which man and other animals have evolved receptors in the key parts of their bodies and of whose usage there are thousands of years of known history, those competing industries have now grown into monstrous proportions. Each of these industries opposed to cannabis can single-handedly be attributed with the damage to the planet, public health, pollution and climate change. Pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, fossil fuel based plastics, alcohol, tobacco, heroin, paper and arms trade are just some of the industries that have flourished in the absence of cannabis. Each has taken life on this world significantly closer to extinction on an unprecedented scale.
Currently the US federal government and the individual states are in conflict over cannabis with states seeking legal protection from the federal government and its agencies to ensure that their people's decision to legalize cannabis is not attacked by federal law enforcement and drug enforcement agencies. The US federal government has issues at it borders with Canada and Mexico because of the legal status of cannabis. The incarceration of minorities over cannabis is many times more than the incarceration of white Americans and the US as a whole has the highest rates of incarceration in the world. It is the world's leading consumer of heroin. In 2018, 72,000 persons died due to opioid abuse and many are victims to methamphetamine, synthetic cannabinoids, cocaine, benzodiazepines, abuse of prescription drugs, novel psychotropic substances, alcohol and tobacco. For an example of America’s tangled web of cannabis laws, look no further than Washington, DC. Congress passed laws making the drug illegal across the country, but just blocks away there’s a smoke shop where customers can buy cannabis for recreational use, says a report.
According to Leafly, 'Producing insurmountable suffering and hardship, the so-called ‘Prohibition Period’ between 1920-1933 – referring to the 13-year ban on alcohol – was largely regarded as a large-scale political failure. Cannabis prohibition has yielded similar consequences, with both events leading to an influx in organized crime, attacks on minorities, and ironically, a rise in drug use.' In another article from Leafly it says 'By the 1930s, long before the years of “Just Say No,” federal officials were actively working to expand the stigma around cannabis. Harry Anslinger, who during the era of alcohol prohibition had become the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, “took the scientifically unsupported idea of marijuana as a violence-inducing drug, connected it to black and Hispanic people, and created a perfect package of terror to sell to the American media and public,” Bender writes. The propaganda helped push forward the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, the first piece of national legislation to outlaw cannabis.' Many of the original architects of America’s drug war have retired or passed away. Joe Biden, who created the Office of the Drug Czar, however, became US President in the 2020 elections. That was mainly because his opponent was someone in comparison to whom he appears like a liberal minded rational man. His personal views on cannabis still appear out of sync with the wishes of the people but there is the hope that he will not stand in the way of legalization.
Currently the US federal government and the individual states are in conflict over cannabis with states seeking legal protection from the federal government and its agencies to ensure that their people's decision to legalize cannabis is not attacked by federal law enforcement and drug enforcement agencies. The US federal government has issues at it borders with Canada and Mexico because of the legal status of cannabis. The incarceration of minorities over cannabis is many times more than the incarceration of white Americans and the US as a whole has the highest rates of incarceration in the world. It is the world's leading consumer of heroin. In 2018, 72,000 persons died due to opioid abuse and many are victims to methamphetamine, synthetic cannabinoids, cocaine, benzodiazepines, abuse of prescription drugs, novel psychotropic substances, alcohol and tobacco. For an example of America’s tangled web of cannabis laws, look no further than Washington, DC. Congress passed laws making the drug illegal across the country, but just blocks away there’s a smoke shop where customers can buy cannabis for recreational use, says a report.
According to Leafly, 'Producing insurmountable suffering and hardship, the so-called ‘Prohibition Period’ between 1920-1933 – referring to the 13-year ban on alcohol – was largely regarded as a large-scale political failure. Cannabis prohibition has yielded similar consequences, with both events leading to an influx in organized crime, attacks on minorities, and ironically, a rise in drug use.' In another article from Leafly it says 'By the 1930s, long before the years of “Just Say No,” federal officials were actively working to expand the stigma around cannabis. Harry Anslinger, who during the era of alcohol prohibition had become the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, “took the scientifically unsupported idea of marijuana as a violence-inducing drug, connected it to black and Hispanic people, and created a perfect package of terror to sell to the American media and public,” Bender writes. The propaganda helped push forward the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, the first piece of national legislation to outlaw cannabis.' Many of the original architects of America’s drug war have retired or passed away. Joe Biden, who created the Office of the Drug Czar, however, became US President in the 2020 elections. That was mainly because his opponent was someone in comparison to whom he appears like a liberal minded rational man. His personal views on cannabis still appear out of sync with the wishes of the people but there is the hope that he will not stand in the way of legalization.
So who are the entities at the federal level currently opposed to cannabis legalization and at the heart of the world wide crisis? It is easy to say white conservative Republicans following the ideals of Nixon, Reagan, Bush(s) and now Trump. But then along with them are the Democratic presidents who as well refused to change the laws and a whole set of agencies that seem to want the status quo maintained. The DEA, NIDA, FDA, National Office of Drug Policy and the Justice Department seem to be some of the federal agencies that come to mind readily. A committee that is said to have been formed at the US President Trump's directive complained in one memo that the narrative around cannabis is unfairly biased in favor of the drug. But rather than seek objective information, the committee’s records show it is asking officials only to portray cannabis in a negative light, regardless of what the data show. Jeff Sessions, as head of the US Justice Department, threatened to use federal action against businesses in states where cannabis was legal. Pete Sessions, as chairman of the House Rules Committee, systematically blocked votes on cannabis-related legislation by his colleagues on Capitol Hill. Measures on everything from expanding access to medical cannabis for veterans to protecting legal cannabis states from federal interference were turned down. Even hemp was a no-go with Sessions at the helm of the powerful committee, says Marijuana Moment. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy with its head called the 'drug czar' was created with the aim to wage a half century long war on drugs, specifically cannabis. This office reportedly had $30 billion annually of unaccounted expenditure in 2017 and 2018 for which lawmakers are now demanding an explanation. Former members of the 'drug czar's' office now head an organization called Smart Approaches to Marijuana which aims to continue keeping cannabis illegal and furnishes propaganda stigmatizing cannabis while receiving funding from the industries opposed to cannabis.
It is not that all lawmakers in the Federal Government are against cannabis legalization. A significant number of lawmakers across party lines now favor legalization. Perhaps the foremost factor that could prove the deal maker for cannabis reform in 2019 is the change in congressional makeup, said MJBizDaily. A number of significant bills have been put into motion. The MORE Act would amend the Controlled Substances Act to remove cannabis from the list of federally banned substances and free persons convicted on marijuana charges and expunge their records. The MORE Act passed the floor vote in December 2020 in the House of Representatives but it remains to be seen if it can cross the Senate hurdle. The SAFE Banking Act is focused solely on taking cash off the streets and making communities safer as well as providing certainty for businesses and financial institutions across the country. The presidents of three Federal Reserve banks urged lawmakers to pass legislation that would provide guidance to financial regulators on servicing cannabis businesses. These companies have made clear to Congress that the existing situation, which has forced the industry to operate on a largely cash-only basis, is untenable. Not only does that make the businesses targets of crime, but Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said the IRS “cash rooms” for cannabis-related tax deposits also create “all different types of security issues. A legislation is being designed to provide protections for federal workers who consume cannabis in compliance with state law. Under current law, federal employees can be terminated—or not even hired in the first place—over cannabis, regardless of state law. Military veterans represent about one-third of the federal workforce. At the close of 2018, the U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams called on the federal government to rethink cannabis’ classification as it pertains to medical research. While the Surgeon General did not go so far as to condone legalization for recreational use, he did say that medically, cannabis should be studied. 'Our veterans have sacrificed so much for our country – the least we can do is provide them with the care and support they deserve when they return home. Prohibiting research on any viable treatment option does nothing to serve our veterans – which is why the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, along with many other veterans groups, support the VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act. I will continue working to help our country better serve and care for our veterans,” said Senator Van Hollen. The Cannabis Caucus was the first of its kind to create a forum for elected officials to collaborate on ways to address outdated federal cannabis laws, says Earl Blumenauer, who released a blueprint to cannabis legalization in the 116th Congress last year. '“It’s time we legalize marijuana, but at the minimum, we must reduce the conflicts between federal and state laws so that the industry can continue to create jobs and bolster state economies,” Senator Martin Heinrich, the ranking member of the bicameral congressional panel, said in a press release according to Marijuana Moment. Bernie Sanders, one of the leading Democratic candidates in the US presidential polls of 2020, has been a long term advocate of cannabis legalization and was instrumental in bringing about legalization of recreational cannabis in his native state of Vermont .
81 percent of Americans think cannabis has medicinal benefits according to national survey results published online by Annals of Internal Medicine. 45 percent of U.S. adults said they had tried cannabis at least once in their lives. That's the highest percentage in the history of the yearly poll, which started in 1969, Gallup said. At least 21 major party gubernatorial nominees on U.S. ballots in 2019 supported legalizing cannabis. At least 35 US states have legalized cannabis for medical use so far. The federal US government however continues to keep cannabis in the Schedule 1 list of banned substances saying that it has no medicinal value. The list of US states that have legalized adult recreational cannabis is available here. All these states have legalized cannabis for adult recreational use, aimed specifically at improving public health, ensuring equity, reducing crime, decreasing the black market, improving law enforcement, reforming criminal justice, improving the economy, agriculture and industry, to name just a few reasons. Cannabis is legal in some form in 48 states. A long-awaited end to five decades of hemp prohibition was approved by a House-Senate panel, potentially opening the door to hemp production in all 50 states for any use – including CBD. Fifty-five percent of mayors in a survey agreed with the statement that “marijuana should be legalized, regulated and legally sold in your city.”
It is not that all lawmakers in the Federal Government are against cannabis legalization. A significant number of lawmakers across party lines now favor legalization. Perhaps the foremost factor that could prove the deal maker for cannabis reform in 2019 is the change in congressional makeup, said MJBizDaily. A number of significant bills have been put into motion. The MORE Act would amend the Controlled Substances Act to remove cannabis from the list of federally banned substances and free persons convicted on marijuana charges and expunge their records. The MORE Act passed the floor vote in December 2020 in the House of Representatives but it remains to be seen if it can cross the Senate hurdle. The SAFE Banking Act is focused solely on taking cash off the streets and making communities safer as well as providing certainty for businesses and financial institutions across the country. The presidents of three Federal Reserve banks urged lawmakers to pass legislation that would provide guidance to financial regulators on servicing cannabis businesses. These companies have made clear to Congress that the existing situation, which has forced the industry to operate on a largely cash-only basis, is untenable. Not only does that make the businesses targets of crime, but Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said the IRS “cash rooms” for cannabis-related tax deposits also create “all different types of security issues. A legislation is being designed to provide protections for federal workers who consume cannabis in compliance with state law. Under current law, federal employees can be terminated—or not even hired in the first place—over cannabis, regardless of state law. Military veterans represent about one-third of the federal workforce. At the close of 2018, the U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams called on the federal government to rethink cannabis’ classification as it pertains to medical research. While the Surgeon General did not go so far as to condone legalization for recreational use, he did say that medically, cannabis should be studied. 'Our veterans have sacrificed so much for our country – the least we can do is provide them with the care and support they deserve when they return home. Prohibiting research on any viable treatment option does nothing to serve our veterans – which is why the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, along with many other veterans groups, support the VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act. I will continue working to help our country better serve and care for our veterans,” said Senator Van Hollen. The Cannabis Caucus was the first of its kind to create a forum for elected officials to collaborate on ways to address outdated federal cannabis laws, says Earl Blumenauer, who released a blueprint to cannabis legalization in the 116th Congress last year. '“It’s time we legalize marijuana, but at the minimum, we must reduce the conflicts between federal and state laws so that the industry can continue to create jobs and bolster state economies,” Senator Martin Heinrich, the ranking member of the bicameral congressional panel, said in a press release according to Marijuana Moment. Bernie Sanders, one of the leading Democratic candidates in the US presidential polls of 2020, has been a long term advocate of cannabis legalization and was instrumental in bringing about legalization of recreational cannabis in his native state of Vermont .
81 percent of Americans think cannabis has medicinal benefits according to national survey results published online by Annals of Internal Medicine. 45 percent of U.S. adults said they had tried cannabis at least once in their lives. That's the highest percentage in the history of the yearly poll, which started in 1969, Gallup said. At least 21 major party gubernatorial nominees on U.S. ballots in 2019 supported legalizing cannabis. At least 35 US states have legalized cannabis for medical use so far. The federal US government however continues to keep cannabis in the Schedule 1 list of banned substances saying that it has no medicinal value. The list of US states that have legalized adult recreational cannabis is available here. All these states have legalized cannabis for adult recreational use, aimed specifically at improving public health, ensuring equity, reducing crime, decreasing the black market, improving law enforcement, reforming criminal justice, improving the economy, agriculture and industry, to name just a few reasons. Cannabis is legal in some form in 48 states. A long-awaited end to five decades of hemp prohibition was approved by a House-Senate panel, potentially opening the door to hemp production in all 50 states for any use – including CBD. Fifty-five percent of mayors in a survey agreed with the statement that “marijuana should be legalized, regulated and legally sold in your city.”
The US Federal government seems to be increasingly listening to its people and not just following the agenda of powerful big businesses opposed to cannabis that fund elections and the campaigns of each candidate. Even as the American people demand their cannabis rights and even as the US Federal government appears to give in to the people's demand, it remains to be seen how the US approaches the world stage where it forcefully thrust cannabis prohibition down the throats of people world wide through the UN and the other countries such as Germany, France, Japan, Russia, China, UK. The people who most need access to cannabis, that is the poorest, the minorities, the indigenous communities, the elderly, the youth, the ill and the women have no voice currently in the global scheme of things.
In the 2020 Presidential elections, marijuana got more votes than Joe
Biden or Donald Trump indicating that it is of higher priority to the
public than who the US President is. The federal government will do well
to not forget this. It is also interesting to note that even in the US
states that legalized recreational use, it was only in Vermont and
Illinois that the legislature changed the laws. In all other states,
cannabis was legalized through public ballots where the public had to
come out and force the change. It may still be the case that federal
lawmakers will refuse to act and the people will need to force the
issue. Let us hope that is not the case. Recreational use legalization
in the US will put huge pressure on the UN to do the same thus freeing
all countries from international drug treaty obligations and enabling every single person in this world to access the wonderful herb and not be put in prison for it.
Listed below are articles taken from various media related to the above subject. Words in italics are the thoughts of your truly at the time of reading the article.
'In Hong Kong however, where there is almost no marijuana use, the drug conjures up images of harder drugs, much as "grass" used to be considered the "devil weed" in the United States before its usage spread in the late 1960s. Police in Hong Kong, even now, tend to pay more attention to hash or grass, it seems, than heroin or opium, simply because the substances are less familiar and have come to be associated with the dreaded "hippie tourist Europeans" (anyone in Hong Kong who is not Chinese, and who has white skin, is called a European, just as all Japanese and Chinese are lumped together in America with Vietnamese and others as Orientals).' - The Legend of Bruce Lee by Alex Ben Block, 1974
'In short the Department of Agriculture embarked on its program without even elementary investigation of what was already known about the chemical to be used - or if it investigated, it ignored the findings. It must also have failed to do the preliminary research to discover the minimum amount of the chemical that would accomplish its purpose. After three years of heavy dosages, it abruptly reduced the rate of application of heptachlor from 2 pounds to 1 and 1/4 pounds per acre in 1959; later on to 1/2 pound per acre, applied in two treatments of 1/4 pound each, 3 to 6 months apart. An official of the Department explained that 'an aggressive methods improvement program' showed the lower rate to be effective. Had this information been acquired before the program was launched, a vast amount of damage could have been avoided and the taxpayers could have been saved a great deal of money.' - Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, 1962
'In 1937, weed was placed under the Harrison Narcotics Act. Narcotics authorities claim it is a habit-forming drug, that its use is injurious to mind and body, and that it causes the people who use it to commit crimes. Here are the facts: Weed is positively not habit forming. You can smoke weed for years and you will experience no discomfort if your supply is cut off. I have seen tea heads in jail and none of them showed withdrawal symptoms. I have smoked weed myself off and on for fifteen years, and never missed it when I ran out. There is less habit to weed than there is to tobacco. Weed does not harm the general health. In fact. most users claim it gives you an appetite and acts as a tonic to the system. I do not know of any other agent that gives as definite a boot to the appetite. I can smoke a stick of tea and enjoy a glass of California sherry and a hash house meal.' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'You hear that people go insane from using weed. There is, in fact, a form of insanity caused by the excessive use of weed. The condition is characterized by ideas of reference. The weed available in the U.S. is evidently not strong enough to blow your top on and weed psychosis is rare in the States. In the Near East, it is said to be common. Weed psychosis corresponds more or less to delirium tremens and quickly disappears when the drug is withdrawn. Someone who smokes a few cigarettes a day is no more likely to go insane than a man who takes a few cocktails before dinner is likely to come down with D.T.'s' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'Safe in Mexico, I watched the anti-junk campaign. I read about child addicts and Senators demanding the death penalty for dope peddlers. It didn't sound right to me. Who wants kids fr customers? They never have enough money and they always spill under questioning. Parents find out the kid is on junk and go to the law. I figured that either Stateside peddlers have gone simple-minded or the whole child-addict set-up is a propaganda routine to stir up anti-junk sentiment and pass some new laws.
Refugee hipsters trickled into Mexico. "Six months for needle marks under the vag-addict law in California." "Eight years for a dropper in Washington." "Two to ten for selling in New York."' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'Now that the Narcotics Bureau had taken it upon itself to incarcerate every addict in the U.S., they needed more agents to do the work. Not only more agents, but a different type agent. Like during prohibition, when bums and hoodlums flooded the Internal Revenue Department, now addict-agents join the department for free junk and immunity. It is difficult to fake addiction. An addict knows an addict. The addict-agents manage to conceal their addiction, or perhaps, they are tolerated because they get results. An agent who has to connect or go sick will bring a special zeal to his work.' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'As it is, people are constantly hypnotized from childhood in one and the same direction by all possible means: school books, Church services, sermons, speeches, books, newspapers, poems, and monuments. Some thousands of people are brought together, forcibly or by bribery, and when they have been joined by the loafers who are always glad to see any spectacle, they begin to shout what is shouted before them to the accompaniment of cannon and bands and glitter and brilliance of all kinds, and we are told that this is the expression of the feelings of the whole nation. But in the first place these thousands or tens of thousands, who shout at such celebrations, form but a tiny ten-thousandth part of the whole population. And in the second place, of these tens of thousands of shouting and hand waving people, the greater part, if not assembled by force as is done among us in Russia, have been artfully lured there by some bait or other. Thirdly, among all those thousands there are scarcely a few dozen who know what it is all about: they would shout and wave their hats in just the same way if the very opposite of what is happening were taking place. And fourthly, the police are present who promptly silence and remove all who shout anything the government does not wish or demand - as was strenuously done during the Franco-Russian celebrations.
In France they acclaimed with similar enthusiasm Napoleon the First's war with Russia, Alexander I, against whom that war was fought, then Napoleon again, then again the allies, the Bourbons, the Orleans, the Republic, Napoleon III, and Boulanger; while in Russia they acclaim with equal enthusiasm today Peter, tomorrow Catherine, afterwards Paul, Alexander, Constantine, Nicholas, The Duke of Leuchtenberg, our brother-Slavs, the King of Prussia, the French sailors, and anyone whom the authorities wish welcomed. And the same thing takes place in England, America, Germany and Italy.'
Leo Tolstoy - The Kingdom of God and Peace Essays
'“We’re going to see what’s going on. It’s a very big subject and right now we are allowing states to make that decision,” Trump said. “A lot of states are making that decision, but we’re allowing states to make that decision.”'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/president-trump-reiterates-his-administration-will-let-states-legalize-marijuana/
'According to the survey, 81 percent of respondents believe that tobacco cigarettes are "very harmful." Fifty-one percent of respondents similarly view alcohol as "very harmful." By contrast, only 26 percent of those surveyed ranked marijuana as "very harmful." '
https://norml.org/news/2019/08/29/poll-americans-view-cigarettes-and-alcohol-as-more-harmful-than-cannabis
'According to the agency's filing in the Federal Register, it "intends to promulgate regulations" to evaluate several dozen applications before it from private entities that wish to cultivate cannabis for FDA-approved research. However, this is not the first time the agency has made such a promise. In 2016, the DEA similarly announced the adoption of new rules to expand to supply of research-grade cannabis, but failed to take any further action.'
https://norml.org/news/2019/08/29/dea-promises-progress-on-federal-cultivation-applications-but-provides-no-timetable-for-action
'Overall, this study finds that the adoption and diffusion of [Medical Marijuana Laws]MMLs is mainly determined by the opinions of citizens rather than the political ideology of elected officials or the government’s fiscal health conditions.'
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01442872.2019.1656805
'Fifty years ago, cannabis was known as the drug most emblematic of counterculture. Today, many people promote it as a fount of treatments for almost any ailment imaginable. This immense about-turn is reflected in changes in legal regimes: medicinal use of cannabis is now permitted in many countries, and some also allow the drug to be used recreationally. The times, they have a-changed.'
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02523-6
'The U.S. House of Representatives’ vote approving legislation that would pave the way for financial institutions and insurance companies to serve state-legal marijuana businesses without fear of reprisal is a milestone for the cannabis industry.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/after-the-safe-vote-in-us-house-heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-current-state-of-banking-in-the-marijuana-industry/
Cannabit from New Frontier Data...
'It is increasingly likely that the U.S. hemp industry will see more acreage planted this year than in 1943, the peak of cultivation during World War II.'
https://newfrontierdata.com/marijuana-insights/a-year-into-a-resurrected-hemp-market-how-are-states-handling-it/
'In addition to the continued and “dramatic” capital inflow into the cannabis industry, Kagia noted a “dramatic reassessment of cannabis's place in society and the escalation of the legalization debate in capitals and local communities across the country.” Although legislative roadblocks still hobble some states, such as New York and New Jersey, from moving ahead with legalization, public support and pressure notwithstanding, right now, the issue has assumed great importance in the political landscape. Nearly every Democratic presidential candidate “has affirmed support for some measure of federal cannabis policy reform, adding to the likelihood of a substantial policy debate during the 2020 election cycle," added Kagia. With a majority of Americans supporting legalization, according to the latest Gallup poll, and “support among younger voters being dramatically higher than that of older voters, the trend toward a more accepting view of cannabis will be generational.”'
https://www.forbes.com/sites/irisdorbian/2019/09/24/new-cannabis-report-predicts-legal-sales-to-reach-nearly-30-billion-by-2025/
'The study, published in the journal Justice Quarterly and funded by the federal National Institute of Justice, found that violent and property crimes rates were not affected in a statistically significant way in the years after Colorado and Washington State became the first in the nation to legalize marijuana for adult use.
“Our results suggest that marijuana legalization and sales have had minimal to no effect on major crimes in Colorado or Washington,” the paper concluded. “We observed no statistically significant long-term effects of recreational cannabis laws or the initiation of retail sales on violent or property crime rates in these states.”'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/marijuana-legalization-doesnt-cause-increased-crime-federally-funded-study-finds/
'To date, 34 states and the District of Columbia have adopted medical cannabis laws, or MCLs, which legalize either home cultivation or dispensary-based sales of cannabis for qualifying medical conditions.
The researchers want to determine if MCLs alter the health behaviors of people living with chronic pain and whether they substitute or reduce traditional pain treatments while using medical cannabis.
The research project is funded by a $3.5 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a branch of the National Institutes of Health.'
https://news.uga.edu/researchers-to-study-medical-cannabis-and-chronic-pain/
'While the numbers of planted acres and participants in the U.S. industrial hemp industry increased rapidly under the pilot programs, and hemp can now be grown legally in nearly every State, the long-term trends for U.S. industrial hemp are uncertain. The long-term economic viability of indus-trial hemp in the United States will be affected by:•competition from conventional field crops and marijuana (in States where it is legal) for acreage, •well-established foreign competitors for hemp product markets, •the ability to decrease production and pricing uncertainty through transparency and risk management, and,• continued market development'
https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/95930/eib-217.pdf
'Federal agriculture officials will delay the requirement that all THC testing on hemp crops must be performed at laboratories registered with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
And food and drug regulators say it’s a “fool’s errand” to get people to stop taking over-the-counter CBD'
https://hempindustrydaily.com/usda-drops-dea-testing-requirement-while-fda-acknowledges-demand-for-cbd/
'Researchers interested in the history of marijuana and medicine will appreciate learning about the Tod Mikuriya Papers (1933–2015), a newly-available archival collection here at the National Library of Medicine (NLM). Tod Mikuriya (1933–2007) was a psychiatrist and medical marijuana activist. In addition to his work in addiction medicine and biofeedback, he is well-known for compiling Marijuana: Medical Papers, 1839–1972, a master bibliography of historical resources on marijuana, and for campaigning for California Proposition 215 (Prop 215) which legalized medical marijuana in the state in 1996. Dr. Mikuriya conducted research on marijuana use and founded the California Cannabis Research Medical Group, a non-profit educational organization.'
https://circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov/2020/02/25/tod-mikuriya-papers-now-available-for-research/
https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/nba-insider-tom-haberstroh/marijuana-and-nba-erasing-stigma-and-healing-league
'Cannabis use is increasing among those ages 65 and older, according to data published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.
Researchers affiliated with the New York School of Medicine assessed trends in self-reported cannabis use among seniors. They reported that 4.2 percent of seniors acknowledged engaging in past-year cannabis consumption in 2018, up from 2.4 percent in 2015 and 0.4 percent in 2006.
The study's findings are consistent with those of prior papers similarly reporting an uptick in marijuana use among older Americans. According to a 2019 study published in the journal Gerontology & Geriatric Medicine, marijuana use among seniors is associated with self-reported improvements in pain management, day-to-day functioning, and in their overall health and quality of life'
https://norml.org/news/2020/02/27/seniors-more-frequently-turning-to-cannabis
'A majority of Americans say that adult-use marijuana legalization has been a success in those states that have implemented it, according to nationwide polling compiled by YouGov.com.
Fifty-five percent of respondents said that statewide laws allowing recreational marijuana use have been either fully or mostly successful. Nineteen percent of respondents said that the laws have been largely unsuccessful. Twenty-six percent voiced no opinion. '
https://norml.org/news/2020/04/23/poll-majority-of-americans-say-adult-use-legalization-policies-have-been-a-success
The urban legend of 420..
https://thedcapage.blog/2020/04/21/california-dreamin-or-the-tale-of-420/
'The purpose of this Notice is to inform potential applications to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and National Institute on Aging (NIA) of special interest in grant applications to conduct rigorous research on cannabis and potentially addictive, psychoactive prescription drug use (specifically opioids and benzodiazepine) in older adults. This program will focus on two distinct older adult populations (over the age of 50): (1) individuals with earlier use onset of cannabis and the specified drug classes who are now entering older age, or (2) individuals who initiate use of cannabis and the specified drug classes after the age of 50. Insights gained from this initiative have the potential to inform the public and health care systems regarding use of cannabis and prescription opioids and benzodiazepines in older populations.'
https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-DA-20-014.html
'The hemp industry scored a victory on Tuesday after the Senate passed a coronavirus relief bill that, for the first time, will allow farmers to access a certain federal loan program amid the pandemic.
Farmers have historically been left out of disaster relief legislation through the federal Small Business Administration (SBA) because they’re eligible for separate programs under the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). But those programs are designated for natural disasters, and so industry advocates have been pushing Congress to allow farmers to be eligible for SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/hemp-industry-secures-federal-coronavirus-relief-for-farmers-in-senate-passed-bill/
Hey junkie, this dope is not against you. Of course he believes that his dope is a much better intoxicant, more versatile medicine and more useful to the planet than your junk but that doesn't mean he intends to ban your junk in retribution for you helping to get his dope banned. What he does want, however, is that you start growing your own plant at home like him. In this way, you source your junk directly from the plant instead of putting money in the pockets of chemists who increasingly make more and more toxic stuff that destroy you, me and the planet. Your money is making the chemist pay the government to arm itself and protect him while pushing you and me closer to death. Growing your own plant will give you organic healthy junk in the best possible way, directly from the plant, like how it used to be for thousands of years, making you sustainable and the planet sustainable..yes, you can go green too..don't remain snowblind..we need your eyes too, to steer the planet away from man-made chemical disaster...
'Moreover, many of the studies have overlooked the proliferation of fentanyl as a driver of opioid overdose mortality in the United States, which may negate any potential effect of medical cannabis on overdose deaths. It can only be concluded that additional research might help to identify a range of alternative non-opioid medications and non-pharmacological treatments that could be effective in pain management. The issue of whether increased accessibility of cannabis could reduce the medical and non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids and their negative impact remains inconclusive.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Out of the nearly 9,000 respondents, 5 per cent reported ever using cannabis and had used opioids in the past year, among whom 43 per cent had used opioids daily and 23 per cent had used cannabis in the past 30 days. Although the results are based on a small number of respondents, of the 450 who reported ever using cannabis and past-year opioid use, 41 per cent reported a decrease or cessation of opioid use as a result of cannabis use, 46 per cent reported no change in opioid use and 8 per cent reported an increase in opioid use' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'A study on the impact of cannabis legalization on alcohol sales in Colorado, Oregon and Washington, the three states with the longest history of legal nonmedical use of cannabis, showed that there was no evidence that legalization had had any impact on the sale of spirits or on total alcohol sales, which are generally considered a good proxy for alcohol consumption in the United States. The study showed that the per capita sale of spirits had increased by 3.6 per cent in Oregon, 5.4 per cent in Washington and 7.6 per cent in Colorado in 2018, after the measures allowing the non-medical use of cannabis were implemented in those states. Consistent with national trends, per capita sales of beer had declined by 3.6 per cent in Colorado, 2.3 per cent in Washington and 3.6 per cent in Oregon. The sale of wine increased by 0.7 per cent in Oregon, declined by 3.1 per cent in Washington and increased by 3.2 per cent in Colorado. Overall, per capita sales of alcoholic beverages were fairly stable, as they increased by 1.7 per cent in Colorado, declined by 0.2 per cent in Washington and declined by 0.5 per cent in Oregon' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'A contentious issue between people who are for and against the legalization of cannabis remains whether it has had an impact on driving under the influence of cannabis and caused fatal car crashes. The evidence remains inconclusive, as within the United States there have been no differences in cannabis- or alcohol-related traffic fatalities between states that have and have not legalized the non-medical use of cannabis. As different research contributions have also shown, it is difficult to quantify the effects of cannabis on road accidents, as cannabis is often used in combination with alcohol, which increases the challenge of determining the influence of cannabis itself on road traffic accidents. Moreover, studies on THC levels and degrees of impairment have found that the level of THC in the blood and the degree of impairment do not appear to be closely related; peak impairment does not occur when THC concentration in the blood is at or near peak levels.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'In Washington state, the past-month use of cannabis among high-school students of different grades has generally remained stable, although it increases by grade, with the highest past-month prevalence found among twelfth grade students, as in Colorado. The perception of risk relating to cannabis use among high-school students has also declined since the nonmedical use of cannabis was legalized, with nearly three quarters of twelfth grade students seeing no or low risk in trying cannabis a few times and less than half perceiving no or low risk in the regular use of cannabis in 2018. Similarly, some 38 per cent of twelfth grade students considered that it was fairly easy to get cannabis.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'While the daily or near-daily use of cannabis among high-school students in Colorado has declined, the prevalence of occasional users, that is, those who report having used cannabis one or two times in the past month, has increased since legalization. Nevertheless, 4.7 per cent of high-school students reported using cannabis daily or nearly daily (20 or more times in the past 30 days) in 2017. Moreover, although the share of high-school students smoking cannabis declined from 92 per cent in 2015 to 84 per cent in 2017, there was an increase in the share of those who reported using edibles with high THC content (from 28 per cent in 2015 to 36 per cent in 2017) or “dabbing” cannabis extracts and concentrates (from 28 per cent in 2015 to 34 per cent in 2017) in the past month.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'One concern about legalizing the non-medical use of cannabis for adults (21 years and older) is that its use could also increase access to cannabis and its use among adolescents. Based on national data, cannabis use among high-school students remained stable overall, whereas the risk perception of the occasional use of cannabis declined in the United States over the period 2012–2018. In Colorado, although there has been a decline in daily or near-daily use of cannabis among high-school students, they are now consuming and exposed to cannabis products with far higher THC content than was available or used earlier. In 2017, about 20 per cent of high-school students in Colorado reported non-medical use of cannabis in the past month; that rate is comparable to the national average among high-school students.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Colorado and Washington were the first two states in the United States to legalize the production of cannabis for non-medical use, in 2012. However, prior to legalization, those states and others, such as California, had various regimes in place that permitted or tolerated the production and sale of cannabis for medical use, which allowed people with a range of conditions that were not well-defined to gain access to cannabis. The states of Colorado and Washington, for which more long-term trend data are available, are interesting case studies for examining the public health and public safety outcomes that have emerged in the years since the production of cannabis for non-medical use was legalized.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'In addition to Vermont, Illinois is another state in which measures allowing the non-medical use of cannabis were passed through the state legislature rather than through voters’ initiatives, as was the case in the other states that have legalized the nonmedical use of cannabis. In May 2019, the Illinois General Assembly passed the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, which was signed by the state Governor in June. The sale of cannabis for non-medical use began on 1 January 2020. Under the law, adults aged 21 and older are allowed to purchase and possess up to 30 g of cannabis flower, edibles with a maximum of 500 mg of THC, or 5 g of cannabis concentrates. Non-residents of Illinois will be allowed to purchase half of those amounts. As in some other states, individual cities, villages and municipalities have the option to decide whether to allow the non-medical use of cannabis in their jurisdictions by passing ordinances. Nonetheless, local governments may neither prohibit home cultivation of cannabis nor “unreasonably prohibit” its non-medical use.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'In the United States, a total of 33 states, as well as the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, had approved or had in place a comprehensive programme for medical cannabis by the end of 2019. As at December 2019, 11 state-level jurisdictions in the United States, plus the District of Columbia, allowed the nonmedical use of cannabis, and most also allowed commercial production by for-profit industry. It is worth noting that all the states that have legalized the non-medical use of cannabis previously had measures in place permitting the medical use of cannabis.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Special Guests David Clarenbach, Benjamin Tyler, Mitch Young and Paul Armentano.
Lots of perspectives on Cannabis and Opioid Addiction.'
https://talk927fm.com/podcast/7-8-20-wiscannabis-radio/
Cannabis legalization in India is to the world what cannabis legalization in California was to the US...India needs to wake up to it's cannabis heritage and destiny...
Jul 20, 2020, 4:56 PM
'“Politicians are always lagging behind public opinion. They always wait for a parade and then run to get in front of it,” Erik Altieri said.
Altieri said to obtain federal legalization a true, multi-racial, class, and generation coalition is needed. NORML has built strong alliances with the ACLU and NAACP, among others. They also have some unexpected allies like AARP, which advocates for seniors since clinical cannabis benefits them greatly.
“We have the American people at our back, and we’ll finally see prohibition crumble and be a relic of history,” Erik Altieri predicted.'
https://headynj.com/erik-altieri-leading-norml-to-cannabis-legalization-victories/
'Rather than calling for cannabis to be rescheduled and decriminalized, the Biden campaign should pledge to de-schedule and legalize the plant. Only by removing marijuana from the CSA [Controlled Substances Act] in a manner similar to alcohol (which is unscheduled under federal law) can the government amend federal marijuana policy in a manner that comports with state laws, public opinion, scientific consensus, and the plant’s rapidly evolving cultural status. And only via legalization can state and local regulators impose necessary controls, oversight, and best practices to the marijuana market.
This why candidate Biden should join with many of his Democratic colleagues – such as Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) — in support of HR 3884/S 2227: The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement Act. The Act, which passed the House Judiciary Committee late last fall, removes cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act so that states, not the federal government, possess the flexibility and authority to regulate cannabis within their borders as best they see fit — without the threat of undue federal interference.'
https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/506721-bidens-marijuana-plan-is-out-of-step-with-public-opinion
'“Not only do we know that ending marijuana prohibition is good policy, it is also good politics with majorities of all political persuasions supporting this change,” NORML’s Altieri told Marijuana Moment. “It amounts to almost political malpractice to continue to oppose these broadly popular reforms in the year 2020.”
“Biden and Trump have an opportunity to show some real leadership by taking ownership of this issue,” he said. “If they opt not to lead, we will continue to push for Congress to initiate these overdue policies and the two major party candidates can go down as firmly residing on the wrong side of history.”'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/biden-and-trump-must-back-marijuana-legalization-before-election-norml-petition-demands/
'With revenue of $10.6 billion-$13 billion in 2019, sales of legal adult-use and medical marijuana in the United States topped spending on sleep aids, hard seltzer and toothpaste combined.
Total marijuana sales now exceed the National Basketball Association’s annual U.S. revenue and, by 2024, could surpass Americans’ annual spending on craft beer.
The data – published in the 2020 edition of the Marijuana Business Factbook – underscores the fact that the U.S. cannabis industry is already a major economic force, even though it has yet to reach its full potential.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/chart-retail-cannabis-sales-surpass-nba-revenue-approach-prescription-pain-meds/
'Results
Cannabis use was consistently two to three times higher among those with high anxiety compared to those with some or no anxiety and was higher in states with RML [Recreational Marijuana Legalization] compared to MML [Medical Marijuana Legalization] or no MML/RML. Cannabis use has increased over time among those with and without anxiety overall, in MML states, and in states without MML/RML; with a faster increase in cannabis use among those with high anxiety compared to lower anxiety in states with MML.
Conclusions
Cannabis use is increasing among American adults overall, yet is disproportionately common among Americans with anxiety especially among those residing in states where cannabis has been legalized.'
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376871620303288
'“It’s a lot safer than alcohol. It’s safer than narcotics. It ought to be used more widely and we can’t even study it that easily because of the way it’s regulated,” he said. “You know what, I called the DEA—they said, ‘we don’t want this to be illegal. Your government ought to change that. But we got to enforce the law.’ I call the FDA that regulates the drugs, they say, ‘we think it ought to be used, but until the DEA says it’s allowed, we can’t let people prescribe it everywhere.”
While Oz didn’t disclose specifics about his conversations, such as who he spoke to or when the phone calls happened, it is the case that federal marijuana reform outside of Congress falls largely within the jurisdictions of both agencies. And DEA has denied multiple rescheduling requests, justifying the inaction by stating that FDA has determined that cannabis doesn’t have proven medical value and carries a risk of abuse.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/dr-oz-claims-dea-and-fda-blame-each-other-for-keeping-marijuana-illegal/
'Fifty years ago, these men who are now feared in Kathmandu’s restaurants would be welcomed at Freak Street in shops called ‘Your Old & Favorite Hashish Centre.’ In the 1960s and early 70s, cheap and potent marijuana drew thousands of hippies to Kathmandu where they could readily buy one-kilogram boxes of the downer at a pittance.
In 1976, mostly under pressure from the American government which was worried about its young citizens becoming dope addicts, Nepal banned the use and sale of marijuana. The decision had far-reaching implications: the hippies left, tourism was hit, the government lost tax revenue, farmers lost a lucrative cash crop, and the trade in hash went underground, criminalising a legitimate livelihood.
In fact it is said that one of the reasons for the rapid spread of the Maoist revolution in 1996 was that the government’s ban on the production of cannabis was so stringent that it angered the Kham Magars who cultivated it as a major cash crop.'
http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/marijuana-high-time-to-lift-ban,2548
'Kathmandu had become a haven for anti-war ‘peaceniks’, draft dodgers, and Vietnam veterans. White House recordings from the early 1970s reveal Secretary of State Henry Kissinger warning Nixon: “They come from Nepal to demonstrate against you because up there they can get free pot … or at least it is legal.”
Banning cannabis drove the cultivation and use of this important cash crop underground and into the hands of organised criminals with police and political protection. Nepal’s subsistence farmers were pushed deeper into poverty, and may even have sparked the Maoist revolution in later years.
Campaigners in Kathmandu now see no reason why Nepal should keep the ban when the Americans who forced it on Nepal have legalised it in 25 states for medical and commercial purposes.'
https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-grass-is-greener-in-nepal/
'The clandestine manufacture of fentanyls within North America is thus not really a new phenomenon and has the potential to increase in importance following the recent control of fentanyls substances in China. Moreover, the clandestine manufacture of fentanyl has already spread beyond North America to neighbouring subregions, as a clandestine fentanyl laboratory was dismantled in the city of Santiago, Dominican Republic, in 2017. At the same time, there is a risk that other countries with a large and thriving pharmaceutical sector may become involved in the clandestine manufacture of fentanyls. In 2018, for example, authorities of India reported two relatively large seizures of fentanyl destined for North America. Furthermore, according to United States authorities, in September 2018, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence of India, in cooperation with DEA of the United States Department of Justice, dismantled the first known illicit fentanyl laboratory in India and seized approximately 11 kg of fentanyl' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'According to United States authorities, most of the fentanyls destined for the North American market have been manufactured in China in recent years, from where they were either shipped directly to the United States, mostly through postal services, or were first shipped to Mexico and, to a lesser extent, Canada and then smuggled into the United States. However, after the introduction by China in May 2019 of drug controls based on generic legislation with regard to the fentanyls, which effectively brought more than 1,400 known fentanyl analogues under national control in China, early signs suggest that fewer fentanyls were smuggled from China to North America. At the same time, attempts to manufacture fentanyl and its analogues inside North America are increasing, notably in Mexico, by means of a method using precursor chemicals smuggled into the subregion from East Asia and South Asia.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The current crisis of fentanyls appears to be more supply-driven than earlier waves of increases in the use of pharmaceutical opioids or heroin. Fentanyls are being used as an adulterant of heroin, are used to make falsified pharmaceutical opioids, such as falsified oxycodone and hydrocodone – and even falsified benzodiazepines – which are sold to a large and unsuspecting population of users of opioids and other drugs; users are not seeking fentanyl as such.
It seems that some local distributors are not able to distinguish between heroin, fentanyl and fentanyl laced heroin, nor between diverted pharmaceutical opioids and falsified opioids containing fentanyl. A general problem with fentanyls is dosing by nonprofessional “pharmacists”, where small mistakes can lead to lethal results. Furthermore, as the overdose death data suggest, even people using cocaine and psychostimulants, such as methamphetamine, are also exposed – probably unintentionally – to fentanyls or other potent synthetic opioids mixed with those substances' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'There is a great incentive for trafficking organizations to expand the fentanyl market: the large associated revenues. Compared with heroin, the production costs of single-dose fentanyls are substantially lower. For instance, it may cost between $1,400 and $3,500 to synthesize 1 kg of fentanyl, which could bring a return of between $1 million and $1.5 million from street sales. For comparison, 1 kg of heroin purchased from Colombia may cost $5,000 to $7,000,99 around $53,000 at the wholesale level in the United States and around $400,000 at the retail level in the United States. With fentanyls, the logistics for supply are also more flexible because fentanyls can be manufactured anywhere and are not subject to the climatic conditions or the vulnerable conditions required for the largescale cultivation of opium poppy.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'All factors driving fentanyl use converged from 2013 onwards in the United States and Canada, which may explain the unprecedented spread of the fentanyls in those markets: factors such as the diffusion of simpler, more effective methods of manufacture of synthetic opioids and their analogues (primarily fentanyls), assisted by the availability on the Internet of instructions for their manufacture; a shift from preparation by a limited number of skilled chemists to preparation by basic “cooks” who could simply follow the posted instructions; the discovery of ever more fentanyl analogues; a lack of effective control of precursors and oversight of the industry; expanding distribution networks that reduced the risk of detection through the use of postal services and the Internet; and increased licit trade including e-commerce.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'In 2018, approximately 10.3 million people (3.7 per cent of the population aged 12 years or older) had misused opioids in the past year in the United States. Most of them, 9.9 million (3.6 per cent of the population aged 12 years and older), reported non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids, while almost 800,000 reported past-year use of heroin (comprising just 8 per cent of the total population who reported past-year misuse of opioids).' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
' Overall, in 2018 overdose deaths attributed to synthetic opioids, comprising mainly fentanyls, accounted for nearly half of the total overdose deaths in the United States. Among the reasons for the high number of overdose deaths attributed to fentanyls are their often small lethal doses relative to other opioids: fentanyl, for example, is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine, and carfentanil may be as much as 10,000 times more potent than morphine for an average user. A lethal dose of carfentanil for a human can be as low as 20 micrograms.
The rapid expansion of fentanyl use in the United States is also visible in the data on seizures and the drug samples analysed, with a considerable increase since 2014 in the number of samples identified as fentanyl. In 2018, fentanyl accounted for 45 per cent of the pharmaceutical opioids that were identified in different samples, while oxycodone accounted for 14 per cent' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Although geographically disconnected, the areas that were initially affected by the opioid crisis in Canada and the United States have experienced remarkably similar market dynamics, which can be broadly described in the following sequential steps: (a) High rates of prescriptions for pharmaceutical opioids leading to diversion and an increase in the non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids, opioid use disorders and an increase in opioid overdose deaths (b) Regulations introduced to reduce diversion and non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids (e.g., tamper-proof formulations to prevent injecting) (d) Fentanyl (illicitly manufactured in clandestine laboratories) and its analogues emerge as adulterants in heroin and stimulants (cocaine and methamphetamine) and are sold as falsified pharmaceutical opioids, resulting in massive increases in deaths attributed to fentanyls (e) Fentanyls emerge as the dominant opioid in opioid overdose deaths, as well as contributing to overdose deaths attributed to other drugs (g) Fentanyl-related deaths are the main contributor to total opioid overdose deaths;' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'From what is known, it is possible to identify common threats and different dynamics in the two opioid crises, in Africa and in North America: • The ease of manufacturing, easy accessibility and low-cost production make the illicit markets for tramadol and fentanyls substantially more profitable for traffickers than are other opioids such as heroin. • The large-scale manufacture of tramadol and fentanyls for the illicit market started in a context of an absence of international regulations on tramadol and many fentanyl analogues or their precursors. • The interchangeability (or substitution) of fentanyl and tramadol within the pharmaceutical and illicit drug markets makes it more difficult to address their misuse. Their non-medical use is also seen in the context of self-medication, and thus carries less stigma or is countered by lesser legal sanctions than is the case with other controlled drugs.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'England and Wales and Australia are examples of places where cocaine and amphetamines have competed for their share of the stimulant market over the past 20 years. Germany and the United States are examples of places where cocaine and amphetamines have together led the changes in the stimulant market
Within the stimulant markets, there are also examples of substitution effects in the “ecstasy” market. In England and Wales, for example, trend data on the use of “ecstasy”, mephedrone and NPS in the period 2005–2019 suggest that first mephedrone and later NPS filled the market space left by the decreasing supply of “ecstasy”, mainly due to a supply shortage, until 2012. Once “ecstasy” started to regain its previous share, the other substances declined sharply' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Increases in drug use have at times also been supply driven, as users react to growing supply and the attendant falling prices by increasing their consumption of those drugs. This was the case with cocaine in recent years, among other drugs. Some of the recent changes in drug markets, such as the opioid crisis in North America and the rapid emergence of a synthetic drug market in the Russian Federation and Central Asia, can also be defined as supply driven phenomena. The expansion of the synthetic drugs market in the Russian Federation seems to be mainly linked to the Hydra darknet platform. While there may now be an established user-based demand for synthetic drugs, the initial trigger was new suppliers. The rise of fentanyl in North America was not defined by a new demand either but was the result of opportunities seized by drug suppliers to reduce costs and thus increase profit margins.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'It lit up jazz and hip-hop -- and ignited a war on drugs steeped in racial injustice. Experts explore America's complicated relationship with weed. Hip-hop legend Fab 5 Freddy directs and narrates this documentary featuring Snoop Dogg, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels and more.'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IET4K5npNOg
'“We’re going to see what’s going on. It’s a very big subject and right now we are allowing states to make that decision,” Trump said. “A lot of states are making that decision, but we’re allowing states to make that decision.”'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/president-trump-reiterates-his-administration-will-let-states-legalize-marijuana/
'Never has it been more clear than during the current COVID-19 pandemic that marijuana has arrived at the forefront of mainstream American society.
In state after state, governors and public health officials are deeming cannabis businesses “essential” operations that can stay open amid coronavirus-related forced closures and stay-at-home mandates. People might not be able to go bowling or see a movie in theaters, but they can still stock up on marijuana.'
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomangell/2020/03/23/coronavirus-crisis-shows-marijuana-is-essential-and-mainstream/#7c9125a94db2
It takes two hands to clap..where there is demand there is supply..please do not overlook those responsible on the American side as well..starting by taking action on them should be easy enough? Legalize marijuana for recreational use in the US, Colombia and Venezuela to reduce the illegal drug trade...
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/26/nyregion/venezuela-president-drug-trafficking-nicolas-maduro.html
The dark hours before the dawn..with Joe Biden as the leading Democratic candidate now, it looks like the US federal government, and the forces behind it, are trying to ensure that no matter who wins the 2020 elections, cannabis loses...
'While McEnany's views on state cannabis laws appear to be at odds with those of her boss, they do seem to be in line with a number of other key figures in the Trump orbit.'
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomangell/2020/04/08/trump-hires-anti-marijuana-white-house-press-secretary/#73b31f472a8c
Just stop all the subterfuge and legalize cannabis federally, United States...you seem to be the biggest losers here while some private pharma company is making the money..and the whole world is paying the price for the cannabis ban world wide...
'In 2018, the United States imported 15.7 tons of cannabis, accounting for 54.9 per cent of global imports; it was followed by Germany (7.6 tons, or 26.7 per cent), Uruguay (1.3 tons, or 4.5 per cent), Italy (1.1 tons, or 3.8 per cent) and Australia (1.0 ton, or 3.4 per cent).'
https://www.incb.org/documents/Narcotic-Drugs/Technical-Publications/2019/Narcotic_Drugs_Technical_Publication_2019_web.pdf
See any similarities with countries with high COVID fatality count?
'In 2018, most of the consumption of fentanyl (81.7 per cent) was concentrated in 10 countries, all of which were high-income countries. The three largest consumers of fentanyl were the United States (accounting for 20.8 per cent of global consumption, or 307.9 kg), Germany (17.6 per cent, or 259.4 kg) and the United Kingdom (15.6 per cent, or 230.6 kg). Other major consumers of fentanyl were, in descending order of the amounts consumed, Spain, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia and Belgium.'
https://www.incb.org/documents/Narcotic-Drugs/Technical-Publications/2019/Narcotic_Drugs_Technical_Publication_2019_web.pdf
Aha..this possibly explains the drop in opium import by the US from India in 2018...
'In 2018, fentanyl was mainly manufactured by the United States (740.7 kg, or 39.1 per cent of global manufacture), followed by Germany (548.3 kg, or 28.9 per cent), South Africa (238.4 kg, or 12.6 per cent), Belgium (229.8 kg, or 12.1 per cent) and the United Kingdom (94.7 kg, or 5.0 per cent). '
https://www.incb.org/documents/Narcotic-Drugs/Technical-Publications/2019/Narcotic_Drugs_Technical_Publication_2019_web.pdf
'Starin' at the boob tube, turnin' on the big knob
Tryin' to find some life in the waste land
Fin'ly found a program, gonna deal with Mary Jane
Ready for a trip into hate land
Obnoxious Joe comes on the screen
Along with his guest self-righteous Sam
And one more guy who doesn't count
His hair and clothes are too far out
While pushin' back his glasses Sam is sayin' casually
"I was elected by the masses"
And with that in mind he starts to unwind
A vicious attack on the finest of grasses
Well it's evil, wicked, mean and nasty
(Don't step on the grass, Sam)
And it will ruin our fair country
(Don't be such an ass, Sam)
Well, it will hook your Sue and Johnny
(You're so full of bull, Sam)
All will pay that disagree with me
(Please give up you already lost the fight, man)
Misinformation Sam and Joe
Are feeding to the nation
But the one who didn't count counted them out
By exposing all their false quotations
Faced by a very awkward situation
This is all he'd say to save the day
Well it's evil, wicked, mean and nasty
(Don't step on the grass, Sam)
And it will ruin our fair country
(Don't be such an ass, Sam)
Well, it will hook your Sue and Johnny
(You're so full of bull, Sam)
All will pay that disagree with me
(Please give up you already lost the fight alright)
You waste my coin Sam, all you can
To jail my fellow man
For smoking all the noble weed
You need much more than him
You've been telling lies so long
Some believe they're true
So they close their eyes to things
You have no right to do
Just as soon as you are gone
Hope will start to climb
Please don't stay around too long
You're wasting precious time'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q592hcpm6Ac
Updated Apr 20, 2020, 8:41 PM
'A majority of Americans say that adult-use marijuana legalization has been a success in those states that have implemented it, according to nationwide polling compiled by YouGov.com.
Fifty-five percent of respondents said that statewide laws allowing recreational marijuana use have been either fully or mostly successful. Nineteen percent of respondents said that the laws have been largely unsuccessful. Twenty-six percent voiced no opinion. '
https://norml.org/news/2020/04/23/poll-majority-of-americans-say-adult-use-legalization-policies-have-been-a-success
'First, to state the obvious: This isn’t a great outcome for marijuana advocates. Of the major candidates in the Democratic race, Biden was the only besides Michael Bloomberg not to support the removal of cannabis from the DEA’s list of controlled substances. As recently as November 2019, Biden questioned whether marijuana was a gateway drug—though he has since denied believing that myth.
As for Trump, his wishy-washy views on cannabis have been well-documented over the years of his campaign and presidency. If it’s possible to glean a coherent message from The Donald’s past statements, we’d guess he’s okay with medical but unsure about federal legalization. But in a bad sign for the industry, the latest addition to the rotating band of charlatans and bucket-climbing crabs he calls advisors is press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who once penned an op-ed claiming America’s youth was being “martyred” by legalization in Colorado'
https://hightimes.com/news/politics/commander-cannabis-how-will-trump-biden-approach-marijuana-policy/amp/
'Here’s a breakdown of percentages of people in legal states who said the policy has been a success compared to a failure:
- Colorado (71-17 percent)
- Oregon (69-20 percent)
- Massachusetts (67-15 percent)
- Washington (65-18 percent)
- Nevada (64-17 percent)
- California (59-20 percent)
- Illinois (59-17 percent)
- Michigan (56-20 percent)
- Maine (47-20 percent)'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/most-people-in-recreational-marijuana-states-believe-legalization-is-a-success-poll-finds/
'"This polling data reaffirms that most voters do not experience 'buyer's remorse' following marijuana legalization," NORML's Deputy Director Paul Armentano said. "In the minds of most Americans, adult-use marijuana regulations are operating as voters intended and in a way that is consistent with their expectations.'
https://norml.org/news/2020/05/21/poll-respondents-in-adult-use-marijuana-states-say-legalization-has-been-successful
'“Nearly 9 in 10 Americans are familiar with CBD,” the report says. Some 86% of those surveyed had heard of CBD, and a majority (55%) were interested in learning more. Younger cohorts tended to be more interested than older groups.
Three in five (60%) of consumers surveyed reported using CBD in a context that might be called “unwinding,” such as relaxation, relief of stress or anxiety reduction. The primary use, however (41%), was pain management
Oils and tinctures led the way, at 38% (of the ways in which consumers surveyed consume CBDs). Topicals were the next most widely used method, at 19%; then: food or drinks, 18%; flower, 8%; pills/capsules, 7%; and vaping, 7%.'
https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanoleck/2020/05/28/there-is-an-active-discussion-of-cbd-happening-across-the-country-says-a-new-report-and-that-spells-opportunity/
'By using the mass media as his forum (receiving much support from publisher William Randolph Hearst), Anslinger was the main person behind the creating of an anti-marijuana sentiment during those years. The anti-marijuana propaganda film Reefer Madness from 1936 is a good example of his work.
There were two component in his strategy. First, the message that weed is evil. Second, racism, according to him only latinos and black people were smoking 'marihuana' and made them 'forget their place in society'.
Here below you can read 15 of his most ridiculous quotes about cannabis. You have been warned...'
https://www.cannaconnection.com/blog/7217-harry-j-anslinger-15-ridiculous-quotes-about-marihuana
'According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report, police made 663,367 arrests for marijuana-related violations in 2018. That is more than 21 percent higher than the total number of persons arrested for the commission of violent crimes (521,103). Of those arrested for cannabis-related activities, some 90 percent (608,776) were arrested for marijuana possession offenses only.
"Police across America make a marijuana-related arrest every 48 seconds," NORML Executive Director Erik Altieri said. "At a time when the overwhelming majority of Americans want cannabis to be legal and regulated, it is an outrage that many police departments across the country continue to waste tax dollars and limited law enforcement resources on arresting otherwise law-abiding citizens for simple marijuana possession."'
https://norml.org/news/2019/10/03/fbi-marijuana-arrests-rise-for-third-year-in-a-row-outpace-arrests-for-all-violent-crimes
The story is the same globally..minorities, indigenous people, tribals and the poor are the primary targets of marijuana policing...
'Authors wrote, "In every single state, Black people were more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession, and in some states, Black people were up to six, eight, or almost ten times more likely to be arrested. In 31 states, racial disparities were actually larger in 2018 than they were in 2010."
In two states, Montana and Kentucky, African Americans were arrested for marijuana possession violations at more than nine times the rate of Caucasians – the highest disparity in the country. Colorado and Alaska, which legalized adult-use marijuana sales in 2012 and 2014 respectively, possessed the lowest disparity in marijuana possession arrest rates'
https://norml.org/news/2020/04/23/aclu-report-racial-disparities-persist-in-marijuana-possession-arrests
Get rich...at warp speed...warped indeed...
'When the news broke yesterday that Operation Warp Speed had selected five experimental COVID-19 vaccines to fast-track through testing and, potentially, mass-scale production, it was news even to some top scientists involved with the White House–led program. “It’s been so chaotic, and it’s not even transparent to those of us who are trying to help out,” says a source linked to Warp Speed who asked not to be named.
The New York Times reported that according to “senior officials,” the Trump administration program had chosen vaccines from Moderna, the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and Merck for the crash development program, which aims to have enough safe and proven product to vaccinate 300 million Americans by January 2021. The government’s Biomedical Advanced Research Development Authority (BARDA) had already singled out all four for what could amount to more than $2 billion in funding if they hit milestones. The fifth vaccine flagged by The New York Times is made by Pfizer, whose CEO, Albert Bourla, said on 28 May at a media briefing that the company doesn’t want funding from any government because “We believe we can move faster if we don’t have to involve a third party.”'
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/06/top-us-scientists-left-out-white-house-selection-covid-19-vaccine-shortlist
'Still the numbers are undeniable when it comes to the racially disproportionate arrests.Of those approximate 11,700 arrested for a cannabis charge of some kind, around 10,500 were black. Of those 11,700 arrestees, 709 were white. Of those arrests, 5,987 were for cannabis possession or public consumption arrests were black while 451 were white.
The release of this data is useful for partially understanding where the district falls when it comes to cannabis arrests nationwide. On April 20 of this year, The American Civil Liberties Union released a massive report on racial disparities when it comes to who is arrested for cannabis possession. The report, “A Tale of Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform,” looked at all 50 states’ cannabis possession arrests between 2010-2018 and revealed a national average in which a black person was 3.6 times more likely to be arrested for cannabis than a white person.'
https://www.outlawreport.com/blog/washington-dc-cannabis-arrests-race
Arizona, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania....
https://mjbizdaily.com/executives-pinpoint-least-favorite-marijuana-markets-and-ones-they-are-watching/
'There’s a national component to marijuana reform too — something that Joe Biden needs to embrace. Currently, the Drug Enforcement Administration still lists marijuana as it has for 50 years: as a Schedule 1 drug, deemed as dangerous as heroin and technically more dangerous than opioids. It should not remain there.
Thankfully, Biden’s been evolving over the last year. Alas, while supporting decriminalization, he still opposes legalization.
Marijuana needs to be legalized intelligently, guarding against kids getting hooked and stoned drivers taking to the roads. But any way you cut it, the public health harm of pot is minuscule compared to that of alcohol. Legalize it.'
https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-edit-marijuana-reform-20200615-dcl7riz2gnbpfikeizdrcpplwq-story.html
'In 2018, more than 26 million Americans reported their regular consumption of cannabis, marking a 74% increase among the population since 2009. The trend has been fueled by convergence in recognition of the therapeutic value for medical cannabis, greater understanding of cannabis’ comparative health effects relative to alcohol and other drugs, and erosion of the stigma associated with cannabis as more jurisdictions have decriminalized and legalized its use.
Despite the surging usage rates, prohibition enforcement continues apace. In 2018, someone in the U.S. was arrested on average every 48 seconds for a cannabis offense or more than 660,000 times that single year. While arrests rates have fallen from a peak of more than 870,000 in 2007, marijuana continues to make up the largest category of U.S. drug arrests, accounting for upwards of half (45%) of all drug-related charges. Meanwhile, since 1996, nearly 17 million people have been arrested on marijuana offences, a number equivalent to 5% of the overall U.S. population'
https://newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/racial-disparities-and-cannabis-legalization-in-american-policing/
'Although cannabis is a global growth story, there's no question that the U.S. is at the center of this expansion. The United States is already responsible for the lion's share of legal weed sales, in spite of the fact that marijuana remains a Schedule I (i.e., illicit) substance at the federal level. Even with presidential candidates Joe Biden (D) and Donald Trump (R) unlikely to alter this classification, that's not going to stop legalization momentum at the state level.
With less than five months left before Americans hit the polls, a dozen states have proposed various marijuana initiatives, 10 of which are looking to legalize medical marijuana, recreational cannabis, or both at the same time. While many of these proposals are still in the signature gathering stage or pending official review, the following four states look to have the best chance to "go green" come November.'
https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/06/07/the-4-likeliest-states-to-legalize-marijuana-in-no.aspx
'The Library of Congress (LOC) is documenting racist depictions of marijuana in early 20th century news coverage that helped to drive the criminalization of cannabis, highlighting sensationalized articles about the plant that the federal research body says effectively served as “anti-Mexican propaganda.”
As part of the institution’s “Chronicling America” project, which digitizes media from throughout U.S. history, LOC published a timeline last week that gives examples of headlines concerning cannabis from 1897 to 1915.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/library-of-congress-highlights-racist-news-coverage-used-to-justify-criminalizing-marijuana-a-century-ago/
It's so great that it managed to prohibit cannabis world wide leading to a century of all kinds of discrimination against all kinds of people of every single nation all over the world...what pompeousness..
'“Our nation is so special and it’s the greatest nation in the history of civilization,” Pompeo argued at the press conference earlier this month. “It’s so special that challenges like the ones that we’re confronting here in the United States today will be managed head-on, there will be a political process that’s engaged of, there will be wide open debate, and our core principles—the fact that we respect every human being because they are made in the image of God—will be reflected in the way that the United States responds to these challenge.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/feds-expose-religious-discrimination-against-marijuana-consumers-in-other-countries-while-ignoring-u-s-policy/
'Americans consider marijuana consumption more morally acceptable than gay relationships, medical testing of animals, the death penalty and abortion, according to a new survey from Gallup.
The poll released on Tuesday shows a continuation of the growing acceptance of cannabis use among Americans as more states opt to legalize marijuana for medical or recreational purposes.
Seven-out-of-ten respondents said using cannabis is morally acceptable. Only 28 percent said the activity is morally unacceptable.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/marijuana-use-is-more-moral-than-porn-gay-relations-and-wearing-animal-fur-americans-say/
'The Americas remains the region with the highest annual prevalence of cannabis use (8.8 per cent among the population aged 15–64). In the United States of America, cannabis use has been consistently increasing since 2007, in particular among young adults (aged 18–25) and older adults (aged 26 and older). The main increase has been observed among regular users of cannabis; for example, the prevalence of daily or near-daily use of cannabis doubled over the period 2009–2018. In 2018, 4.7 per cent of the population aged 18 and older – around 11.6 million people – were estimated to be daily or near-daily users of cannabis. In comparison, in Western and Central Europe, nearly 1 per cent of the adult population were estimated to be daily or near-daily users of cannabis, a rate that has remained more or less stable over the past decade.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'The number of overdose deaths in the United States reached its peak in 2017 at 70,237 deaths (21.7 deaths per 100,000 population), of which 47,600 (68 per cent: 14.9 deaths per 100,000 population) were attributed to opioids. In 2018, for the first time since 1999, the number of overdose deaths declined over the previous year by 4 per cent to 67,367 deaths (20.7 deaths per 100,000 population). Opioids were responsible for most of those deaths, accounting for 46,802 in total in 2018 (14.6 deaths per 100,000 population), of which 67 per cent were attributed to fentanyls.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'The opioid crisis continues in North America, with a new record level in the number of opioid overdose deaths attributed to the use of fentanyl and its analogues. These substances are added to heroin and other drugs as adulterants and are also sold as counterfeit prescription opioids, such as oxycodone or hydrocodone, and even as counterfeit benzodiazepines, to a large unsuspecting population of users of opioids and other drugs. In 2018, in the United States, 10.3 million people or 3.7 per cent of the population aged 12 and older had misused opioids in the past year. Of those people, 9.9 million (3.6 per cent of the population) reported the non-medical use of prescription opioids while nearly 800,000 reported past-year use of heroin.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'Globally, an estimated 19 million people were pastyear users of cocaine in 2018, corresponding to 0.4 per cent of the global population aged 15–64. The main cocaine markets continue to be North America and Western and Central Europe, with a prevalence of use of 2.1 per cent and 1.4 per cent, respectively, while the highest prevalence of past-year cocaine use is in Australia and New Zealand, at 2.2 per cent of the population aged 15–64. Cocaine use is also higher than the global average in Central America (0.7 per cent) and South America (1.0 per cent).' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'Top Trump administration officials say drug overdose deaths are surging amid the coronavirus pandemic, driven by increased substance use due to anxiety, social isolation and depression.
A White House drug policy office analysis shows an 11.4 percent year-over-year increase in fatalities for the first four months of 2020, confirming experts’ early fears that precautions like quarantines and lockdowns combined with economic uncertainty would exacerbate the addiction crisis'
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/29/pandemic-unleashes-a-spike-in-overdose-deaths-345183
'The Gallup poll, published Tuesday, asked 1,028 Americans in all 50 states and the nation’s capital whether they deemed 21 different behaviors or policies, from using birth control to the death penalty, moral or not. More respondents viewed marijuana use as acceptable than they did abortion, pornography, having children outside of marriage and wearing fur.'
https://www.nj.com/marijuana/2020/06/most-americans-see-smoking-weed-as-morally-acceptable-survey-finds.html
'When Baldwin asked how many candidates Warp Speed ultimately would select, Disbrow said, “More than one.” He laughed and apologized. “I’m sorry, it really is procurement sensitive,” Disbrow added, stressing that the stock market is affected by these negotiations. “You will see the press releases when we award these contracts.”
Another witness, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins, said a group of vaccine experts his agency convened to work with Warp Speed did a scientific review of 50 candidate COVID-19 vaccines. This review has not been made public, and NIH did not reply to a request for a copy. Members of that group have also expressed surprise at some of Warp Speed’s choices.'
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/operation-warp-speed-s-opaque-choices-covid-19-vaccines-draw-senate-scrutiny
'Heroin trafficking in the Americas remains concentrated in North America. The subregion accounted for 94 per cent of all quantities of heroin and morphine seized in the Americas in 2018, when seizures reported in North America were almost four times as high as a decade earlier. Seizures made in the United States accounted for 87 per cent of all heroin and morphine seized in the Americas in 2018, followed by Mexico (the country where most opium is produced in the region), Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Canada and Guatemala.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Most heroin (and morphine) trafficking in the Americas continues to take place within North America, i.e., from Mexico to the United States and, to a far lesser extent, from Colombia and from Guatemala (typically via Mexico) to the United States. Based on forensic profiling, United States authorities estimated in 2017 that over 90 per cent of the heroin samples analysed originated in Mexico and 4 per cent in South America, while around 1 per cent originated in South-West Asia. This stands in stark contrast to a decade earlier (2007), when only 25 per cent was sourced from Mexico and 70 per cent was imported from South America.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Nonetheless, seizures of methamphetamine remain highly concentrated: the three countries responsible for most of the methamphetamine seized worldwide in 2018 (the United States, Thailand and Mexico) accounted for 80 per cent of the global total, while the three countries reporting the largest quantities of amphetamine (Turkey, Pakistan and the Syrian Arab Republic) and the three countries reporting the most “ecstasy” seized (Turkey, the United States and Australia) accounted for a significantly smaller proportion of the global total (around 50 per cent) in 2018.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The United States reported the dismantling of 1,607 methamphetamine laboratories in 2018, accounting for 78 per cent of all methamphetamine laboratories dismantled worldwide that year. However, the overall output of domestic methamphetamine manufacture in the United States now appears to be considerably smaller than the potential output produced by several of the large, industrial-scale laboratories found in other parts of the world, such as Mexico and East and South-East Asia, in recent years. Over the past few years, the United States has reported that most of the methamphetamine found on its market has been smuggled into the country from abroad, most notably from Mexico. Most of the clandestine production and smuggling seems to be controlled by various Mexican drug cartels.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The vast majority of the methamphetamine production facilities dismantled in the United States were “kitchen laboratories” (1,426), which typically produce two ounces or less per production cycle for local demand, although the overall figure also included the dismantling of 11 industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratories in the United States in 2018. Nevertheless, the overall number of clandestine methamphetamine laboratories detected in the United States fell by about 90 per cent over the period 2010–2018 and by 93 per cent since the peak in 2004. According to the United States authorities, the initial decline after 2004 resulted from improved precursor control, notably through the regulation of over-the-counter sales of methamphetamine precursor chemicals such as ephedrine preparations and pseudoephedrine, and ongoing efforts to dismantle laboratories, which acted as a deterrent to domestic methamphetamine manufacture.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The vast majority of the methamphetamine production facilities dismantled in the United States were “kitchen laboratories” (1,426), which typically produce two ounces or less per production cycle for local demand, although the overall figure also included the dismantling of 11 industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratories in the United States in 2018. Nevertheless, the overall number of clandestine methamphetamine laboratories detected in the United States fell by about 90 per cent over the period 2010–2018 and by 93 per cent since the peak in 2004. According to the United States authorities, the initial decline after 2004 resulted from improved precursor control, notably through the regulation of over-the-counter sales of methamphetamine precursor chemicals such as ephedrine preparations and pseudoephedrine, and ongoing efforts to dismantle laboratories, which acted as a deterrent to domestic methamphetamine manufacture.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'By contrast, the decline in the number of dismantled laboratories after 2010 was no longer in line with the upward trend in a number of other indicators, which had been clearly pointing to an expansion of the methamphetamine market, both in terms of supply (rising seizures, falling purity adjusted prices) and demand (rising prevalence rates, positive tests among the general workforce, treatment admissions and deaths). The purity of methamphetamine rose from 95 per cent in the first quarter of 2012 to 98 per cent in the first quarter of 2018, while the potency of methamphetamine increased from 85 to 97 per cent over the same period. This indicates an improvement in the know-how of organized crime groups manufacturing methamphetamine from various (non-scheduled) P-2-P precursors in neighbouring Mexico, an overall increase in the supply of methamphetamine in the United States and the emergence of a potentially even more problematic substance, showing everhigher levels of purity and potency, thus increasing the risk of overdose.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'While the annual prevalence of methamphetamine use more than doubled from 0.3 to 0.7 per cent of the population aged 12 and older in the United States over the period 2008–2018, the number of psychostimulants involved in drug poisoning deaths in the United States rose from 1,302 to 12,676 deaths over the same period, equivalent to an almost 10-fold increase. This increase may have been inflated by an increasing number of contaminations of psychostimulants with opioids (such as fentanyl and its analogues); however, psychostimulant-related deaths excluding any involvement of opioids still showed an eightfold increase, from 807 deaths in 2008 to 6,271 deaths in 2018.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The decline in the domestic supply of methamphetamine, indicated by the falling number of manufacturing facilities dismantled in the United States, going hand in hand with increasing use and an overall increase in the supply of the drug, can be explained by the increasing importance of rapidly growing illegal methamphetamine imports from clandestine manufacture sites in neighbouring Mexico. According to the United States authorities, the latter phenomenon appears to have resulted from attempts by Mexican organized crime groups to diversify their drug portfolio as they attempted to reduce their dependence on cocaine produced in countries in South America, preferring instead to source the required chemicals from China and produce methamphetamine themselves. Methamphetamine shipments intercepted along the south-western border of the United States increased almost fourfold between 2013 and 2018.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The largest quantities of methamphetamine seized in 2018 were the quantities seized in the United States, followed by Thailand and Mexico. Marked increases in the quantities seized from 2017 to 2018 were reported by the United States and Thailand, while the quantities of methamphetamine seized in China declined, in line with reports of wastewater analysis that showed a significant decline in methamphetamine consumption in that country.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020,
https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'In the United States, most methamphetamine is sold as methamphetamine. However, there have also been reports of tablets sold as “ecstasy” that contained methamphetamine instead (notably in Missouri). The sale of methamphetamine in the form of falsified Adderall tablets is a new phenomenon, with laboratories manufacturing such falsified medicaments found in a number of states, in particular Georgia and California. The expansion of methamphetamine trafficking has also gone hand in hand with the increasingly common practice of mixing methamphetamine with fentanyls. This practice has proved to be particularly harmful and has contributed to the rapid rise in methamphetamine-related deaths in recent years.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The quantities of methamphetamine seized in North America rose sixfold between 2009 and 2018, to 117 tons. North American methamphetamine seizures accounted for more than 99 per cent of all the methamphetamine seized in the Americas in 2018. Methamphetamine seizures in the subregion were dominated by those reported by the United States (71 per cent of the total in 2018), followed by Mexico (29 per cent), while the quantities of methamphetamine seized in Canada (0.4 per cent) remained more limited' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'As cross-border methamphetamine trafficking in North America consists mainly of trafficking from Mexico to the United States, the south-western border thus remains the main entry point for illegal imports of methamphetamine into the United States: in 2018, 95 per cent of the methamphetamine seizures made by United States customs authorities were effected at or near the country’s south-western border. Quantities of methamphetamine seized in the United States as a whole almost tripled between 2013 and 2018, whereas those intercepted along the south-western border quadrupled during the same period. Trafficking modi operandi include concealment by human couriers on commercial flights, the use of parcel delivery services, and the use of pick-up trucks and commercial buses, as well as unusual goods deliveries such as concealment in metal collars, cargo stabilizers, electric transformers and industrial drill bits, reflecting the increasing sophistication of methamphetamine smuggling activities. Another emerging trend over the past few years has been the use of drones, which easily fly over physical barriers on the border while the operators remain at a safe distance from where the drugs are dropped, thereby reducing the risk of arrest.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Practically all the major transnational criminal organizations in Mexico seem to be involved in the smuggling of methamphetamine to the United States. They include the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the Juárez Cartel, the Gulf Cartel, the Los Zetas Cartel and the Beltrán-Leyva Organization. In parallel, outlaw motorcycle gangs continue to be involved in the distribution of methamphetamine within the United States. The increased involvement of Mexican organized crime groups in the trafficking of drugs other than cocaine has contributed to the spread of methamphetamine trafficking from the western United States to the whole country over the past decade, including states in the eastern part of the country that had previously been spared from the large-scale harmful use of methamphetamine.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The United States, for example, has been reported by other countries as a country of departure of methamphetamine for Oceania (Australia and New Zealand), Asia (Japan, the Philippines, Hong Kong, China and Mongolia) and Europe (Ireland). Moreover, methamphetamine trafficking has been reported not only from Mexico or from Canada into the United States but also from the United States to those two countries, suggesting a number of two-way trafficking flows across the countries of North America. Methamphetamine trafficked from Canada has been reported in the United States, South America (Chile), Oceania (Australia and New Zealand) and a few countries in Europe (Iceland and Latvia).' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'This shift from China as the main location of methamphetamine manufacture and trafficking to other countries in East and South-East Asia is also indirectly reflected in trafficking data reported by Australia. China and Hong Kong, China, were the two main embarkation points for methamphetamine trafficked to Australia in 2015, whereas in the fiscal years 2016/17 and 2017/18 the most important embarkation points were the United States, followed by Thailand and Malaysia. In fact, in 2018, the Australian authorities reported that the importance of China as a source country for methamphetamine had declined while there has been an emerging trend in the growth of quantities of seized methamphetamine originating in South-East Asia, mainly in the Mekong region, including the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar and Thailand.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'While methamphetamine trafficking flows from East and South-East Asia to countries outside the subregion remain modest, some smuggling to destinations around the world was reported, mainly smuggling from Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar in 2018 or, when the period is extended to the past five years, mainly from China and Thailand. Destinations outside the subregion included countries in South Asia, the Near and Middle East (Saudi Arabia as well as Israel), Oceania (Australia and New Zealand), North America (the United States as well as Canada), Western Europe (notably Switzerland as well as Italy, Germany, France, Spain and Iceland), Eastern Europe (notably the Russian Federation) and Africa (notably South Africa) over the period 2014–2018' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Methamphetamine found in Australia and New Zealand is both locally manufactured and, to a larger extent, imported from North America and Asia. In the fiscal year 2017/18, methamphetamine was mainly smuggled into Australia from the United States, followed by Thailand, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, China (including Hong Kong, China), Mexico, Lebanon, Viet Nam and India. The United States was also the main source country of the methamphetamine found in New Zealand in 2018, followed by Canada and, in SouthEast Asia, by Malaysia and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The largest quantities of cannabis herb seized in 2018 were those reported in the Americas (61 per cent of the total), with South America alone accounting for 43 per cent of the global total. Of note is the marked decline in the share of seizures made in North America, which had long been the subregion reporting the largest cannabis herb seizures: on average, 50 per cent of the global total over the period 2008–2018, falling to 17 per cent of the global total in 2018, that is, to less than the total for Africa that year (19 per cent). The next largest regional reported seizure totals in 2018 were those for Asia and Europe.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020,
https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The quantity of cannabis herb seized in 2018 declined by 16 per cent compared with a year earlier, falling to 4,303 tons, the lowest level since 1999. As compared with 2010, the quantity seized fell by 34 per cent at the global level, largely due to decreases reported in North America (-84 per cent), with marked declines being reported by Mexico, the United States and Canada. Discussions and policies aimed at liberalizing the cannabis markets, including changes in the drug’s legislation in Canada and some jurisdictions of the United States, legalizing the production, distribution and the recreational use of cannabis, seem to have played a key role in this respect. By contrast, the quantities of cannabis herb seized almost doubled in the rest of the world over the period 2010–2018 (South America: +194 per cent; Oceania: +94 per cent; Europe: +73 per cent; Asia: +71 per cent; Africa: +53 per cent). The global cannabis herb trafficking index, based on qualitative information reported by Member States on trends in cannabis herb trafficking, also increased over the same period, although the trend appeared to be stabilizing in 2018.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'In 2018, the largest quantities of cannabis herb seized worldwide continued to be those reported by Paraguay, followed by the United States and India. Cannabis herb produced in Paraguay is reported to have been mainly destined for neighbouring Brazil (77 per cent) and Argentina (20 per cent). Over the period 2008–2018, the largest cannabis herb seizures worldwide took place in the United States, followed by Mexico, Paraguay, Colombia, Nigeria, Morocco, Brazil, India and Egypt' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
Afghanistan and Mexico source the heroin and morphine. Mexico, Thailand, Myanmar and China source the methamphetamine. The Middle East and Eastern Europe sources the amphetamine. The US consumes heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine. Europe consumes heroin, morphine, methamphetamine and amphetamine. Asia consumes heroin, morphine and methamphetamine. Australia consumes methamphetamine. The Middle East consumes heroin and amphetamine. West Asia consumes heroin and methamphetamine. All countries grow and consume cannabis. Opioids, methamphetamine and amphetamines kill the most in terms of drug deaths, cannabis kills none. Who are the leading opponents to cannabis legalization and leading enforcers of global anti-cannabis policy? The countries involved the most in heroin, morphine, amphetamines and methamphetamines. They put on a mask of concern about harms from drugs, produce, sell and consume the most dangerous synthetic drugs and vehemently oppose cannabis legalization worldwide while clandestinely feeding their habits and protecting their sources. They use arms and armies to protect and promote their synthetic drug habits, and drug money to fund and wage a war on cannabis everywhere, pushing man and planet ever closer to death on massive scales and away from the safe, healing cannabis herb...
Jul 10, 2020, 1:14 PM
'Altieri, the pro-marijuana lobbyist, said coming up with a legalization policy wouldn’t take much work: Sanders had one, as did Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Andrew Yang. Or Biden could check in with Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, who wrote a legalization bill based on the argument that legalization is essential to the criminal-justice-reform conversation. Altieri is not impressed with how little Biden has moved so far. “Where he’s at now would have been maybe a bold stance in 1988. It’s not much of one in 2020,” he told me.'
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/07/biden-marijuana-pot-legalize/613777/
'NORML urges candidate Biden to join with many of his Democratic colleagues and to throw his support behind The MORE Act, HR 3884 — which would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act and once and for all allow individual states the flexibility and authority to regulate cannabis how best they see fit.
The MORE Act would also make several other important changes. For example, it permits physicians affiliated with the Veterans Administration to make medical marijuana recommendations to qualifying veterans who reside in legal states and it incentivizes states to move ahead with expungement policies that will end the stigma and lost opportunities suffered by those with past, low-level cannabis convictions. If approved, the MORE Act also allows the Small Business Administration to support entrepreneurs and businesses as they seek to gain a foothold in this emerging industry.
The MORE Act became the first bill in US history to end federal marijuana prohibition to be approved in the House Judiciary Committee on November, 20th, 2019 with a bipartisan vote of 24-10.'
https://norml.org/blog/2020/07/09/bidens-marijuana-plan-is-out-of-step-with-public-opinion-would-do-little-to-mitigate-the-failed-policy-of-federal-prohibition/
'Medical and recreational cannabis sales in the United States are on track to exceed $15 billion this year, a jump of 40% over 2019, according to the new Marijuana Business Factbook.
Moreover, total U.S. sales could reach as high as $37 billion by 2024.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/week-in-review-us-cannabis-sales-to-top-15b-illinois-licensing-delays-nj-at-forefront-of-legalization-more/
'Trump’s remarks about the causal relationship between weed and IQ are disputed by one of his own governmental agencies, the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
“Recent results from two prospective longitudinal twin studies did not support a causal relationship between marijuana use and IQ loss,” NIDA says on its website. “No predictable difference was found between twins when one used marijuana and one did not.”'
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/z3bmxj/trump-says-weed-makes-you-dumb-leaked-audio-reveals
'Here's the crux: legalizing marijuana no longer exposes pot companies to 280E and its high effective tax rate, but it also doesn't generate nearly as much taxable income for the federal government, even if a federal tax is added to legal weed sales. Keep in mind that adding yet another tax to legal marijuana would mean that some consumers will shift their buying habits away from legal channels and toward the black market due to cost.
In other words, the status quo of marijuana being illegal at the federal level with more and more states legalizing has become highly profitable for the federal government. That's a big reason there's a reluctance to legalize.'
https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/06/29/the-surprising-reason-the-us-may-be-reluctant-to-l.aspx
'The probes froze billion-dollar deals in place for months. And while companies waited, the fast-moving industry shifted to the point where deals had to be renegotiated or abandoned, even after they received approval. At least three large acquisitions failed after receiving DOJ requests for vast amounts of extra information that required months to prepare and deliver.
“It was a pain in the ass,” one industry insider at a company that went through the review and asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue, told VICE News'
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/akzk9b/trumps-war-on-legal-weed
'There is evidence that the number of polydrug users has increased in the United States and in the United Kingdom because in both countries the ratio of the aggregated number of users of individual drugs compared with the total number of drug users has followed an upward trend. It is still difficult, however, to assess the actual impact of this trend in terms of health consequences.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'However, polydrug trafficking is not limited to Europe and can also be found in other regions and subregions, including North America, South America, Asia, Oceania and Africa. For a number of years, for example, polydrug trafficking organizations have been dismantled in the United States. A recent example was the dismantlement in July 2019 of an organization involving more than 50 people selling counterfeit oxycodone pills (containing fentanyl), methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and benzodiazepine pills, as well as various types of weapons.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'In short the Department of Agriculture embarked on its program without even elementary investigation of what was already known about the chemical to be used - or if it investigated, it ignored the findings. It must also have failed to do the preliminary research to discover the minimum amount of the chemical that would accomplish its purpose. After three years of heavy dosages, it abruptly reduced the rate of application of heptachlor from 2 pounds to 1 and 1/4 pounds per acre in 1959; later on to 1/2 pound per acre, applied in two treatments of 1/4 pound each, 3 to 6 months apart. An official of the Department explained that 'an aggressive methods improvement program' showed the lower rate to be effective. Had this information been acquired before the program was launched, a vast amount of damage could have been avoided and the taxpayers could have been saved a great deal of money.' - Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, 1962
'In 1937, weed was placed under the Harrison Narcotics Act. Narcotics authorities claim it is a habit-forming drug, that its use is injurious to mind and body, and that it causes the people who use it to commit crimes. Here are the facts: Weed is positively not habit forming. You can smoke weed for years and you will experience no discomfort if your supply is cut off. I have seen tea heads in jail and none of them showed withdrawal symptoms. I have smoked weed myself off and on for fifteen years, and never missed it when I ran out. There is less habit to weed than there is to tobacco. Weed does not harm the general health. In fact. most users claim it gives you an appetite and acts as a tonic to the system. I do not know of any other agent that gives as definite a boot to the appetite. I can smoke a stick of tea and enjoy a glass of California sherry and a hash house meal.' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'You hear that people go insane from using weed. There is, in fact, a form of insanity caused by the excessive use of weed. The condition is characterized by ideas of reference. The weed available in the U.S. is evidently not strong enough to blow your top on and weed psychosis is rare in the States. In the Near East, it is said to be common. Weed psychosis corresponds more or less to delirium tremens and quickly disappears when the drug is withdrawn. Someone who smokes a few cigarettes a day is no more likely to go insane than a man who takes a few cocktails before dinner is likely to come down with D.T.'s' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'Safe in Mexico, I watched the anti-junk campaign. I read about child addicts and Senators demanding the death penalty for dope peddlers. It didn't sound right to me. Who wants kids fr customers? They never have enough money and they always spill under questioning. Parents find out the kid is on junk and go to the law. I figured that either Stateside peddlers have gone simple-minded or the whole child-addict set-up is a propaganda routine to stir up anti-junk sentiment and pass some new laws.
Refugee hipsters trickled into Mexico. "Six months for needle marks under the vag-addict law in California." "Eight years for a dropper in Washington." "Two to ten for selling in New York."' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'Now that the Narcotics Bureau had taken it upon itself to incarcerate every addict in the U.S., they needed more agents to do the work. Not only more agents, but a different type agent. Like during prohibition, when bums and hoodlums flooded the Internal Revenue Department, now addict-agents join the department for free junk and immunity. It is difficult to fake addiction. An addict knows an addict. The addict-agents manage to conceal their addiction, or perhaps, they are tolerated because they get results. An agent who has to connect or go sick will bring a special zeal to his work.' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953
'As it is, people are constantly hypnotized from childhood in one and the same direction by all possible means: school books, Church services, sermons, speeches, books, newspapers, poems, and monuments. Some thousands of people are brought together, forcibly or by bribery, and when they have been joined by the loafers who are always glad to see any spectacle, they begin to shout what is shouted before them to the accompaniment of cannon and bands and glitter and brilliance of all kinds, and we are told that this is the expression of the feelings of the whole nation. But in the first place these thousands or tens of thousands, who shout at such celebrations, form but a tiny ten-thousandth part of the whole population. And in the second place, of these tens of thousands of shouting and hand waving people, the greater part, if not assembled by force as is done among us in Russia, have been artfully lured there by some bait or other. Thirdly, among all those thousands there are scarcely a few dozen who know what it is all about: they would shout and wave their hats in just the same way if the very opposite of what is happening were taking place. And fourthly, the police are present who promptly silence and remove all who shout anything the government does not wish or demand - as was strenuously done during the Franco-Russian celebrations.
In France they acclaimed with similar enthusiasm Napoleon the First's war with Russia, Alexander I, against whom that war was fought, then Napoleon again, then again the allies, the Bourbons, the Orleans, the Republic, Napoleon III, and Boulanger; while in Russia they acclaim with equal enthusiasm today Peter, tomorrow Catherine, afterwards Paul, Alexander, Constantine, Nicholas, The Duke of Leuchtenberg, our brother-Slavs, the King of Prussia, the French sailors, and anyone whom the authorities wish welcomed. And the same thing takes place in England, America, Germany and Italy.'
Leo Tolstoy - The Kingdom of God and Peace Essays
'“We’re going to see what’s going on. It’s a very big subject and right now we are allowing states to make that decision,” Trump said. “A lot of states are making that decision, but we’re allowing states to make that decision.”'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/president-trump-reiterates-his-administration-will-let-states-legalize-marijuana/
'According to the survey, 81 percent of respondents believe that tobacco cigarettes are "very harmful." Fifty-one percent of respondents similarly view alcohol as "very harmful." By contrast, only 26 percent of those surveyed ranked marijuana as "very harmful." '
https://norml.org/news/2019/08/29/poll-americans-view-cigarettes-and-alcohol-as-more-harmful-than-cannabis
'According to the agency's filing in the Federal Register, it "intends to promulgate regulations" to evaluate several dozen applications before it from private entities that wish to cultivate cannabis for FDA-approved research. However, this is not the first time the agency has made such a promise. In 2016, the DEA similarly announced the adoption of new rules to expand to supply of research-grade cannabis, but failed to take any further action.'
https://norml.org/news/2019/08/29/dea-promises-progress-on-federal-cultivation-applications-but-provides-no-timetable-for-action
- 'Passage of the 2018 Farm Bill sparked both sharp nationwide increases in licensing and explosive sales growth for 2019.
- The issuance of U.S. hemp-cultivation licenses saw a year-over-year, nationwide increase of 364% (from 3,546 in 2018 to 16,462 in 2019).
- Small family farms’ entry to the space drove licensing booms in some states, while other states saw the arrival of Big Agriculture interests in their markets.
- In 2019, Tennessee led the trend with 3,200 new licenses, marking more than a 13x increase over its 226 in 2018. Conversely, Montana’s comparatively low 277 licenses in 2019 represent nearly 40,000 acres, averaging a Big Ag-style footprint of more than 144 acres apiece.
- Traditional hemp states Colorado, Kentucky, and Oregon continue to lead in cultivation as the nation overall shows a projected 225,000 acres harvested in 2019, more than a 180% increase beyond 78,176 in 2018.'
'Overall, this study finds that the adoption and diffusion of [Medical Marijuana Laws]MMLs is mainly determined by the opinions of citizens rather than the political ideology of elected officials or the government’s fiscal health conditions.'
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01442872.2019.1656805
'Fifty years ago, cannabis was known as the drug most emblematic of counterculture. Today, many people promote it as a fount of treatments for almost any ailment imaginable. This immense about-turn is reflected in changes in legal regimes: medicinal use of cannabis is now permitted in many countries, and some also allow the drug to be used recreationally. The times, they have a-changed.'
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02523-6
'The U.S. House of Representatives’ vote approving legislation that would pave the way for financial institutions and insurance companies to serve state-legal marijuana businesses without fear of reprisal is a milestone for the cannabis industry.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/after-the-safe-vote-in-us-house-heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-current-state-of-banking-in-the-marijuana-industry/
Cannabit from New Frontier Data...
- 'The 29 U.S. states having reporting licensed hemp cultivation acreage total nearly half a million acres in combined cultivation land area, a massive increase over 2018’s combined U.S. total of just over 100,000 acres.
- Colorado leads the nation in hemp cultivation and processing land area with over 80,000 acres reported.
- Oregon, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Montana lead in hemp program expansion efforts.
- Tennessee leads in total hemp licenses issued in 2019.
- At least 70% of the 2019 U.S. hemp harvest is intended for extract production.
- California is poised to be the top-producing hemp state for both conventional and organic production as thousands of acres have already been planted in 2019'
'It is increasingly likely that the U.S. hemp industry will see more acreage planted this year than in 1943, the peak of cultivation during World War II.'
https://newfrontierdata.com/marijuana-insights/a-year-into-a-resurrected-hemp-market-how-are-states-handling-it/
'In addition to the continued and “dramatic” capital inflow into the cannabis industry, Kagia noted a “dramatic reassessment of cannabis's place in society and the escalation of the legalization debate in capitals and local communities across the country.” Although legislative roadblocks still hobble some states, such as New York and New Jersey, from moving ahead with legalization, public support and pressure notwithstanding, right now, the issue has assumed great importance in the political landscape. Nearly every Democratic presidential candidate “has affirmed support for some measure of federal cannabis policy reform, adding to the likelihood of a substantial policy debate during the 2020 election cycle," added Kagia. With a majority of Americans supporting legalization, according to the latest Gallup poll, and “support among younger voters being dramatically higher than that of older voters, the trend toward a more accepting view of cannabis will be generational.”'
https://www.forbes.com/sites/irisdorbian/2019/09/24/new-cannabis-report-predicts-legal-sales-to-reach-nearly-30-billion-by-2025/
'The study, published in the journal Justice Quarterly and funded by the federal National Institute of Justice, found that violent and property crimes rates were not affected in a statistically significant way in the years after Colorado and Washington State became the first in the nation to legalize marijuana for adult use.
“Our results suggest that marijuana legalization and sales have had minimal to no effect on major crimes in Colorado or Washington,” the paper concluded. “We observed no statistically significant long-term effects of recreational cannabis laws or the initiation of retail sales on violent or property crime rates in these states.”'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/marijuana-legalization-doesnt-cause-increased-crime-federally-funded-study-finds/
'To date, 34 states and the District of Columbia have adopted medical cannabis laws, or MCLs, which legalize either home cultivation or dispensary-based sales of cannabis for qualifying medical conditions.
The researchers want to determine if MCLs alter the health behaviors of people living with chronic pain and whether they substitute or reduce traditional pain treatments while using medical cannabis.
The research project is funded by a $3.5 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a branch of the National Institutes of Health.'
https://news.uga.edu/researchers-to-study-medical-cannabis-and-chronic-pain/
'While the numbers of planted acres and participants in the U.S. industrial hemp industry increased rapidly under the pilot programs, and hemp can now be grown legally in nearly every State, the long-term trends for U.S. industrial hemp are uncertain. The long-term economic viability of indus-trial hemp in the United States will be affected by:•competition from conventional field crops and marijuana (in States where it is legal) for acreage, •well-established foreign competitors for hemp product markets, •the ability to decrease production and pricing uncertainty through transparency and risk management, and,• continued market development'
https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/95930/eib-217.pdf
'Federal agriculture officials will delay the requirement that all THC testing on hemp crops must be performed at laboratories registered with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
And food and drug regulators say it’s a “fool’s errand” to get people to stop taking over-the-counter CBD'
https://hempindustrydaily.com/usda-drops-dea-testing-requirement-while-fda-acknowledges-demand-for-cbd/
- 'Since 2011, interceptions of cannabis along U.S. borders have fallen 89%, reflecting the convergence of changing social, economic, and legal developments.
- The southern border continues to account for almost all the interceptions (99%), though it has also seen the steepest decline (90%) of them since 2011.
- The decrease in southern interceptions is likely attributable to a range of factors: falling demand for illicit cannabis in states with legal medical and adult use programs, less appeal for traditionally lower-quality cannabis from Mexico or other southern countries than for domestically cultivated products, and increased border enforcement efforts raising the risk of interdiction.
- Conversely, interceptions at the norther border increased 113% between 2018 and 2019, reflecting Canada’s nationwide adult-use legalization in 2018 and the appeal of its reputed high-quality cannabis.
- The data suggest that legalization is having a major disruptive effect on international cannabis smuggling operations aimed at the U.S., and underscores American consumer preference for regulated cannabis products where available and competitively priced'
'Researchers interested in the history of marijuana and medicine will appreciate learning about the Tod Mikuriya Papers (1933–2015), a newly-available archival collection here at the National Library of Medicine (NLM). Tod Mikuriya (1933–2007) was a psychiatrist and medical marijuana activist. In addition to his work in addiction medicine and biofeedback, he is well-known for compiling Marijuana: Medical Papers, 1839–1972, a master bibliography of historical resources on marijuana, and for campaigning for California Proposition 215 (Prop 215) which legalized medical marijuana in the state in 1996. Dr. Mikuriya conducted research on marijuana use and founded the California Cannabis Research Medical Group, a non-profit educational organization.'
https://circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov/2020/02/25/tod-mikuriya-papers-now-available-for-research/
https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/nba-insider-tom-haberstroh/marijuana-and-nba-erasing-stigma-and-healing-league
'Cannabis use is increasing among those ages 65 and older, according to data published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.
Researchers affiliated with the New York School of Medicine assessed trends in self-reported cannabis use among seniors. They reported that 4.2 percent of seniors acknowledged engaging in past-year cannabis consumption in 2018, up from 2.4 percent in 2015 and 0.4 percent in 2006.
The study's findings are consistent with those of prior papers similarly reporting an uptick in marijuana use among older Americans. According to a 2019 study published in the journal Gerontology & Geriatric Medicine, marijuana use among seniors is associated with self-reported improvements in pain management, day-to-day functioning, and in their overall health and quality of life'
https://norml.org/news/2020/02/27/seniors-more-frequently-turning-to-cannabis
'A majority of Americans say that adult-use marijuana legalization has been a success in those states that have implemented it, according to nationwide polling compiled by YouGov.com.
Fifty-five percent of respondents said that statewide laws allowing recreational marijuana use have been either fully or mostly successful. Nineteen percent of respondents said that the laws have been largely unsuccessful. Twenty-six percent voiced no opinion. '
https://norml.org/news/2020/04/23/poll-majority-of-americans-say-adult-use-legalization-policies-have-been-a-success
The urban legend of 420..
https://thedcapage.blog/2020/04/21/california-dreamin-or-the-tale-of-420/
'The purpose of this Notice is to inform potential applications to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and National Institute on Aging (NIA) of special interest in grant applications to conduct rigorous research on cannabis and potentially addictive, psychoactive prescription drug use (specifically opioids and benzodiazepine) in older adults. This program will focus on two distinct older adult populations (over the age of 50): (1) individuals with earlier use onset of cannabis and the specified drug classes who are now entering older age, or (2) individuals who initiate use of cannabis and the specified drug classes after the age of 50. Insights gained from this initiative have the potential to inform the public and health care systems regarding use of cannabis and prescription opioids and benzodiazepines in older populations.'
https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-DA-20-014.html
'The hemp industry scored a victory on Tuesday after the Senate passed a coronavirus relief bill that, for the first time, will allow farmers to access a certain federal loan program amid the pandemic.
Farmers have historically been left out of disaster relief legislation through the federal Small Business Administration (SBA) because they’re eligible for separate programs under the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). But those programs are designated for natural disasters, and so industry advocates have been pushing Congress to allow farmers to be eligible for SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/hemp-industry-secures-federal-coronavirus-relief-for-farmers-in-senate-passed-bill/
Hey junkie, this dope is not against you. Of course he believes that his dope is a much better intoxicant, more versatile medicine and more useful to the planet than your junk but that doesn't mean he intends to ban your junk in retribution for you helping to get his dope banned. What he does want, however, is that you start growing your own plant at home like him. In this way, you source your junk directly from the plant instead of putting money in the pockets of chemists who increasingly make more and more toxic stuff that destroy you, me and the planet. Your money is making the chemist pay the government to arm itself and protect him while pushing you and me closer to death. Growing your own plant will give you organic healthy junk in the best possible way, directly from the plant, like how it used to be for thousands of years, making you sustainable and the planet sustainable..yes, you can go green too..don't remain snowblind..we need your eyes too, to steer the planet away from man-made chemical disaster...
'Moreover, many of the studies have overlooked the proliferation of fentanyl as a driver of opioid overdose mortality in the United States, which may negate any potential effect of medical cannabis on overdose deaths. It can only be concluded that additional research might help to identify a range of alternative non-opioid medications and non-pharmacological treatments that could be effective in pain management. The issue of whether increased accessibility of cannabis could reduce the medical and non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids and their negative impact remains inconclusive.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Out of the nearly 9,000 respondents, 5 per cent reported ever using cannabis and had used opioids in the past year, among whom 43 per cent had used opioids daily and 23 per cent had used cannabis in the past 30 days. Although the results are based on a small number of respondents, of the 450 who reported ever using cannabis and past-year opioid use, 41 per cent reported a decrease or cessation of opioid use as a result of cannabis use, 46 per cent reported no change in opioid use and 8 per cent reported an increase in opioid use' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'A study on the impact of cannabis legalization on alcohol sales in Colorado, Oregon and Washington, the three states with the longest history of legal nonmedical use of cannabis, showed that there was no evidence that legalization had had any impact on the sale of spirits or on total alcohol sales, which are generally considered a good proxy for alcohol consumption in the United States. The study showed that the per capita sale of spirits had increased by 3.6 per cent in Oregon, 5.4 per cent in Washington and 7.6 per cent in Colorado in 2018, after the measures allowing the non-medical use of cannabis were implemented in those states. Consistent with national trends, per capita sales of beer had declined by 3.6 per cent in Colorado, 2.3 per cent in Washington and 3.6 per cent in Oregon. The sale of wine increased by 0.7 per cent in Oregon, declined by 3.1 per cent in Washington and increased by 3.2 per cent in Colorado. Overall, per capita sales of alcoholic beverages were fairly stable, as they increased by 1.7 per cent in Colorado, declined by 0.2 per cent in Washington and declined by 0.5 per cent in Oregon' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'A contentious issue between people who are for and against the legalization of cannabis remains whether it has had an impact on driving under the influence of cannabis and caused fatal car crashes. The evidence remains inconclusive, as within the United States there have been no differences in cannabis- or alcohol-related traffic fatalities between states that have and have not legalized the non-medical use of cannabis. As different research contributions have also shown, it is difficult to quantify the effects of cannabis on road accidents, as cannabis is often used in combination with alcohol, which increases the challenge of determining the influence of cannabis itself on road traffic accidents. Moreover, studies on THC levels and degrees of impairment have found that the level of THC in the blood and the degree of impairment do not appear to be closely related; peak impairment does not occur when THC concentration in the blood is at or near peak levels.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'In Washington state, the past-month use of cannabis among high-school students of different grades has generally remained stable, although it increases by grade, with the highest past-month prevalence found among twelfth grade students, as in Colorado. The perception of risk relating to cannabis use among high-school students has also declined since the nonmedical use of cannabis was legalized, with nearly three quarters of twelfth grade students seeing no or low risk in trying cannabis a few times and less than half perceiving no or low risk in the regular use of cannabis in 2018. Similarly, some 38 per cent of twelfth grade students considered that it was fairly easy to get cannabis.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'While the daily or near-daily use of cannabis among high-school students in Colorado has declined, the prevalence of occasional users, that is, those who report having used cannabis one or two times in the past month, has increased since legalization. Nevertheless, 4.7 per cent of high-school students reported using cannabis daily or nearly daily (20 or more times in the past 30 days) in 2017. Moreover, although the share of high-school students smoking cannabis declined from 92 per cent in 2015 to 84 per cent in 2017, there was an increase in the share of those who reported using edibles with high THC content (from 28 per cent in 2015 to 36 per cent in 2017) or “dabbing” cannabis extracts and concentrates (from 28 per cent in 2015 to 34 per cent in 2017) in the past month.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'One concern about legalizing the non-medical use of cannabis for adults (21 years and older) is that its use could also increase access to cannabis and its use among adolescents. Based on national data, cannabis use among high-school students remained stable overall, whereas the risk perception of the occasional use of cannabis declined in the United States over the period 2012–2018. In Colorado, although there has been a decline in daily or near-daily use of cannabis among high-school students, they are now consuming and exposed to cannabis products with far higher THC content than was available or used earlier. In 2017, about 20 per cent of high-school students in Colorado reported non-medical use of cannabis in the past month; that rate is comparable to the national average among high-school students.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Colorado and Washington were the first two states in the United States to legalize the production of cannabis for non-medical use, in 2012. However, prior to legalization, those states and others, such as California, had various regimes in place that permitted or tolerated the production and sale of cannabis for medical use, which allowed people with a range of conditions that were not well-defined to gain access to cannabis. The states of Colorado and Washington, for which more long-term trend data are available, are interesting case studies for examining the public health and public safety outcomes that have emerged in the years since the production of cannabis for non-medical use was legalized.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'In addition to Vermont, Illinois is another state in which measures allowing the non-medical use of cannabis were passed through the state legislature rather than through voters’ initiatives, as was the case in the other states that have legalized the nonmedical use of cannabis. In May 2019, the Illinois General Assembly passed the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, which was signed by the state Governor in June. The sale of cannabis for non-medical use began on 1 January 2020. Under the law, adults aged 21 and older are allowed to purchase and possess up to 30 g of cannabis flower, edibles with a maximum of 500 mg of THC, or 5 g of cannabis concentrates. Non-residents of Illinois will be allowed to purchase half of those amounts. As in some other states, individual cities, villages and municipalities have the option to decide whether to allow the non-medical use of cannabis in their jurisdictions by passing ordinances. Nonetheless, local governments may neither prohibit home cultivation of cannabis nor “unreasonably prohibit” its non-medical use.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'In the United States, a total of 33 states, as well as the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, had approved or had in place a comprehensive programme for medical cannabis by the end of 2019. As at December 2019, 11 state-level jurisdictions in the United States, plus the District of Columbia, allowed the nonmedical use of cannabis, and most also allowed commercial production by for-profit industry. It is worth noting that all the states that have legalized the non-medical use of cannabis previously had measures in place permitting the medical use of cannabis.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Special Guests David Clarenbach, Benjamin Tyler, Mitch Young and Paul Armentano.
Lots of perspectives on Cannabis and Opioid Addiction.'
https://talk927fm.com/podcast/7-8-20-wiscannabis-radio/
Cannabis legalization in India is to the world what cannabis legalization in California was to the US...India needs to wake up to it's cannabis heritage and destiny...
Jul 20, 2020, 4:56 PM
'“Politicians are always lagging behind public opinion. They always wait for a parade and then run to get in front of it,” Erik Altieri said.
Altieri said to obtain federal legalization a true, multi-racial, class, and generation coalition is needed. NORML has built strong alliances with the ACLU and NAACP, among others. They also have some unexpected allies like AARP, which advocates for seniors since clinical cannabis benefits them greatly.
“We have the American people at our back, and we’ll finally see prohibition crumble and be a relic of history,” Erik Altieri predicted.'
https://headynj.com/erik-altieri-leading-norml-to-cannabis-legalization-victories/
'Rather than calling for cannabis to be rescheduled and decriminalized, the Biden campaign should pledge to de-schedule and legalize the plant. Only by removing marijuana from the CSA [Controlled Substances Act] in a manner similar to alcohol (which is unscheduled under federal law) can the government amend federal marijuana policy in a manner that comports with state laws, public opinion, scientific consensus, and the plant’s rapidly evolving cultural status. And only via legalization can state and local regulators impose necessary controls, oversight, and best practices to the marijuana market.
This why candidate Biden should join with many of his Democratic colleagues – such as Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) — in support of HR 3884/S 2227: The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement Act. The Act, which passed the House Judiciary Committee late last fall, removes cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act so that states, not the federal government, possess the flexibility and authority to regulate cannabis within their borders as best they see fit — without the threat of undue federal interference.'
https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/506721-bidens-marijuana-plan-is-out-of-step-with-public-opinion
'“Not only do we know that ending marijuana prohibition is good policy, it is also good politics with majorities of all political persuasions supporting this change,” NORML’s Altieri told Marijuana Moment. “It amounts to almost political malpractice to continue to oppose these broadly popular reforms in the year 2020.”
“Biden and Trump have an opportunity to show some real leadership by taking ownership of this issue,” he said. “If they opt not to lead, we will continue to push for Congress to initiate these overdue policies and the two major party candidates can go down as firmly residing on the wrong side of history.”'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/biden-and-trump-must-back-marijuana-legalization-before-election-norml-petition-demands/
'With revenue of $10.6 billion-$13 billion in 2019, sales of legal adult-use and medical marijuana in the United States topped spending on sleep aids, hard seltzer and toothpaste combined.
Total marijuana sales now exceed the National Basketball Association’s annual U.S. revenue and, by 2024, could surpass Americans’ annual spending on craft beer.
The data – published in the 2020 edition of the Marijuana Business Factbook – underscores the fact that the U.S. cannabis industry is already a major economic force, even though it has yet to reach its full potential.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/chart-retail-cannabis-sales-surpass-nba-revenue-approach-prescription-pain-meds/
'Results
Cannabis use was consistently two to three times higher among those with high anxiety compared to those with some or no anxiety and was higher in states with RML [Recreational Marijuana Legalization] compared to MML [Medical Marijuana Legalization] or no MML/RML. Cannabis use has increased over time among those with and without anxiety overall, in MML states, and in states without MML/RML; with a faster increase in cannabis use among those with high anxiety compared to lower anxiety in states with MML.
Conclusions
Cannabis use is increasing among American adults overall, yet is disproportionately common among Americans with anxiety especially among those residing in states where cannabis has been legalized.'
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376871620303288
'“It’s a lot safer than alcohol. It’s safer than narcotics. It ought to be used more widely and we can’t even study it that easily because of the way it’s regulated,” he said. “You know what, I called the DEA—they said, ‘we don’t want this to be illegal. Your government ought to change that. But we got to enforce the law.’ I call the FDA that regulates the drugs, they say, ‘we think it ought to be used, but until the DEA says it’s allowed, we can’t let people prescribe it everywhere.”
While Oz didn’t disclose specifics about his conversations, such as who he spoke to or when the phone calls happened, it is the case that federal marijuana reform outside of Congress falls largely within the jurisdictions of both agencies. And DEA has denied multiple rescheduling requests, justifying the inaction by stating that FDA has determined that cannabis doesn’t have proven medical value and carries a risk of abuse.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/dr-oz-claims-dea-and-fda-blame-each-other-for-keeping-marijuana-illegal/
'Fifty years ago, these men who are now feared in Kathmandu’s restaurants would be welcomed at Freak Street in shops called ‘Your Old & Favorite Hashish Centre.’ In the 1960s and early 70s, cheap and potent marijuana drew thousands of hippies to Kathmandu where they could readily buy one-kilogram boxes of the downer at a pittance.
In 1976, mostly under pressure from the American government which was worried about its young citizens becoming dope addicts, Nepal banned the use and sale of marijuana. The decision had far-reaching implications: the hippies left, tourism was hit, the government lost tax revenue, farmers lost a lucrative cash crop, and the trade in hash went underground, criminalising a legitimate livelihood.
In fact it is said that one of the reasons for the rapid spread of the Maoist revolution in 1996 was that the government’s ban on the production of cannabis was so stringent that it angered the Kham Magars who cultivated it as a major cash crop.'
http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/marijuana-high-time-to-lift-ban,2548
'Kathmandu had become a haven for anti-war ‘peaceniks’, draft dodgers, and Vietnam veterans. White House recordings from the early 1970s reveal Secretary of State Henry Kissinger warning Nixon: “They come from Nepal to demonstrate against you because up there they can get free pot … or at least it is legal.”
Banning cannabis drove the cultivation and use of this important cash crop underground and into the hands of organised criminals with police and political protection. Nepal’s subsistence farmers were pushed deeper into poverty, and may even have sparked the Maoist revolution in later years.
Campaigners in Kathmandu now see no reason why Nepal should keep the ban when the Americans who forced it on Nepal have legalised it in 25 states for medical and commercial purposes.'
https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-grass-is-greener-in-nepal/
'The clandestine manufacture of fentanyls within North America is thus not really a new phenomenon and has the potential to increase in importance following the recent control of fentanyls substances in China. Moreover, the clandestine manufacture of fentanyl has already spread beyond North America to neighbouring subregions, as a clandestine fentanyl laboratory was dismantled in the city of Santiago, Dominican Republic, in 2017. At the same time, there is a risk that other countries with a large and thriving pharmaceutical sector may become involved in the clandestine manufacture of fentanyls. In 2018, for example, authorities of India reported two relatively large seizures of fentanyl destined for North America. Furthermore, according to United States authorities, in September 2018, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence of India, in cooperation with DEA of the United States Department of Justice, dismantled the first known illicit fentanyl laboratory in India and seized approximately 11 kg of fentanyl' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'According to United States authorities, most of the fentanyls destined for the North American market have been manufactured in China in recent years, from where they were either shipped directly to the United States, mostly through postal services, or were first shipped to Mexico and, to a lesser extent, Canada and then smuggled into the United States. However, after the introduction by China in May 2019 of drug controls based on generic legislation with regard to the fentanyls, which effectively brought more than 1,400 known fentanyl analogues under national control in China, early signs suggest that fewer fentanyls were smuggled from China to North America. At the same time, attempts to manufacture fentanyl and its analogues inside North America are increasing, notably in Mexico, by means of a method using precursor chemicals smuggled into the subregion from East Asia and South Asia.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'The current crisis of fentanyls appears to be more supply-driven than earlier waves of increases in the use of pharmaceutical opioids or heroin. Fentanyls are being used as an adulterant of heroin, are used to make falsified pharmaceutical opioids, such as falsified oxycodone and hydrocodone – and even falsified benzodiazepines – which are sold to a large and unsuspecting population of users of opioids and other drugs; users are not seeking fentanyl as such.
It seems that some local distributors are not able to distinguish between heroin, fentanyl and fentanyl laced heroin, nor between diverted pharmaceutical opioids and falsified opioids containing fentanyl. A general problem with fentanyls is dosing by nonprofessional “pharmacists”, where small mistakes can lead to lethal results. Furthermore, as the overdose death data suggest, even people using cocaine and psychostimulants, such as methamphetamine, are also exposed – probably unintentionally – to fentanyls or other potent synthetic opioids mixed with those substances' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'There is a great incentive for trafficking organizations to expand the fentanyl market: the large associated revenues. Compared with heroin, the production costs of single-dose fentanyls are substantially lower. For instance, it may cost between $1,400 and $3,500 to synthesize 1 kg of fentanyl, which could bring a return of between $1 million and $1.5 million from street sales. For comparison, 1 kg of heroin purchased from Colombia may cost $5,000 to $7,000,99 around $53,000 at the wholesale level in the United States and around $400,000 at the retail level in the United States. With fentanyls, the logistics for supply are also more flexible because fentanyls can be manufactured anywhere and are not subject to the climatic conditions or the vulnerable conditions required for the largescale cultivation of opium poppy.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'All factors driving fentanyl use converged from 2013 onwards in the United States and Canada, which may explain the unprecedented spread of the fentanyls in those markets: factors such as the diffusion of simpler, more effective methods of manufacture of synthetic opioids and their analogues (primarily fentanyls), assisted by the availability on the Internet of instructions for their manufacture; a shift from preparation by a limited number of skilled chemists to preparation by basic “cooks” who could simply follow the posted instructions; the discovery of ever more fentanyl analogues; a lack of effective control of precursors and oversight of the industry; expanding distribution networks that reduced the risk of detection through the use of postal services and the Internet; and increased licit trade including e-commerce.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'In 2018, approximately 10.3 million people (3.7 per cent of the population aged 12 years or older) had misused opioids in the past year in the United States. Most of them, 9.9 million (3.6 per cent of the population aged 12 years and older), reported non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids, while almost 800,000 reported past-year use of heroin (comprising just 8 per cent of the total population who reported past-year misuse of opioids).' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
' Overall, in 2018 overdose deaths attributed to synthetic opioids, comprising mainly fentanyls, accounted for nearly half of the total overdose deaths in the United States. Among the reasons for the high number of overdose deaths attributed to fentanyls are their often small lethal doses relative to other opioids: fentanyl, for example, is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine, and carfentanil may be as much as 10,000 times more potent than morphine for an average user. A lethal dose of carfentanil for a human can be as low as 20 micrograms.
The rapid expansion of fentanyl use in the United States is also visible in the data on seizures and the drug samples analysed, with a considerable increase since 2014 in the number of samples identified as fentanyl. In 2018, fentanyl accounted for 45 per cent of the pharmaceutical opioids that were identified in different samples, while oxycodone accounted for 14 per cent' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Although geographically disconnected, the areas that were initially affected by the opioid crisis in Canada and the United States have experienced remarkably similar market dynamics, which can be broadly described in the following sequential steps: (a) High rates of prescriptions for pharmaceutical opioids leading to diversion and an increase in the non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids, opioid use disorders and an increase in opioid overdose deaths (b) Regulations introduced to reduce diversion and non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids (e.g., tamper-proof formulations to prevent injecting) (d) Fentanyl (illicitly manufactured in clandestine laboratories) and its analogues emerge as adulterants in heroin and stimulants (cocaine and methamphetamine) and are sold as falsified pharmaceutical opioids, resulting in massive increases in deaths attributed to fentanyls (e) Fentanyls emerge as the dominant opioid in opioid overdose deaths, as well as contributing to overdose deaths attributed to other drugs (g) Fentanyl-related deaths are the main contributor to total opioid overdose deaths;' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'From what is known, it is possible to identify common threats and different dynamics in the two opioid crises, in Africa and in North America: • The ease of manufacturing, easy accessibility and low-cost production make the illicit markets for tramadol and fentanyls substantially more profitable for traffickers than are other opioids such as heroin. • The large-scale manufacture of tramadol and fentanyls for the illicit market started in a context of an absence of international regulations on tramadol and many fentanyl analogues or their precursors. • The interchangeability (or substitution) of fentanyl and tramadol within the pharmaceutical and illicit drug markets makes it more difficult to address their misuse. Their non-medical use is also seen in the context of self-medication, and thus carries less stigma or is countered by lesser legal sanctions than is the case with other controlled drugs.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'England and Wales and Australia are examples of places where cocaine and amphetamines have competed for their share of the stimulant market over the past 20 years. Germany and the United States are examples of places where cocaine and amphetamines have together led the changes in the stimulant market
Within the stimulant markets, there are also examples of substitution effects in the “ecstasy” market. In England and Wales, for example, trend data on the use of “ecstasy”, mephedrone and NPS in the period 2005–2019 suggest that first mephedrone and later NPS filled the market space left by the decreasing supply of “ecstasy”, mainly due to a supply shortage, until 2012. Once “ecstasy” started to regain its previous share, the other substances declined sharply' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'Increases in drug use have at times also been supply driven, as users react to growing supply and the attendant falling prices by increasing their consumption of those drugs. This was the case with cocaine in recent years, among other drugs. Some of the recent changes in drug markets, such as the opioid crisis in North America and the rapid emergence of a synthetic drug market in the Russian Federation and Central Asia, can also be defined as supply driven phenomena. The expansion of the synthetic drugs market in the Russian Federation seems to be mainly linked to the Hydra darknet platform. While there may now be an established user-based demand for synthetic drugs, the initial trigger was new suppliers. The rise of fentanyl in North America was not defined by a new demand either but was the result of opportunities seized by drug suppliers to reduce costs and thus increase profit margins.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'It lit up jazz and hip-hop -- and ignited a war on drugs steeped in racial injustice. Experts explore America's complicated relationship with weed. Hip-hop legend Fab 5 Freddy directs and narrates this documentary featuring Snoop Dogg, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels and more.'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IET4K5npNOg
- 'Passage of the 2018 Farm Bill sparked both sharp nationwide increases in licensing and explosive sales growth for 2019.
- The issuance of U.S. hemp-cultivation licenses saw a year-over-year, nationwide increase of 364% (from 3,546 in 2018 to 16,462 in 2019).
- Small family farms’ entry to the space drove licensing booms in some states, while other states saw the arrival of Big Agriculture interests in their markets.
- In 2019, Tennessee led the trend with 3,200 new licenses, marking more than a 13x increase over its 226 in 2018. Conversely, Montana’s comparatively low 277 licenses in 2019 represent nearly 40,000 acres, averaging a Big Ag-style footprint of more than 144 acres apiece.
- Traditional hemp states Colorado, Kentucky, and Oregon continue to lead in cultivation as the nation overall shows a projected 225,000 acres harvested in 2019, more than a 180% increase beyond 78,176 in 2018.'
'“We’re going to see what’s going on. It’s a very big subject and right now we are allowing states to make that decision,” Trump said. “A lot of states are making that decision, but we’re allowing states to make that decision.”'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/president-trump-reiterates-his-administration-will-let-states-legalize-marijuana/
'Never has it been more clear than during the current COVID-19 pandemic that marijuana has arrived at the forefront of mainstream American society.
In state after state, governors and public health officials are deeming cannabis businesses “essential” operations that can stay open amid coronavirus-related forced closures and stay-at-home mandates. People might not be able to go bowling or see a movie in theaters, but they can still stock up on marijuana.'
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomangell/2020/03/23/coronavirus-crisis-shows-marijuana-is-essential-and-mainstream/#7c9125a94db2
It takes two hands to clap..where there is demand there is supply..please do not overlook those responsible on the American side as well..starting by taking action on them should be easy enough? Legalize marijuana for recreational use in the US, Colombia and Venezuela to reduce the illegal drug trade...
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/26/nyregion/venezuela-president-drug-trafficking-nicolas-maduro.html
The dark hours before the dawn..with Joe Biden as the leading Democratic candidate now, it looks like the US federal government, and the forces behind it, are trying to ensure that no matter who wins the 2020 elections, cannabis loses...
'While McEnany's views on state cannabis laws appear to be at odds with those of her boss, they do seem to be in line with a number of other key figures in the Trump orbit.'
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomangell/2020/04/08/trump-hires-anti-marijuana-white-house-press-secretary/#73b31f472a8c
Just stop all the subterfuge and legalize cannabis federally, United States...you seem to be the biggest losers here while some private pharma company is making the money..and the whole world is paying the price for the cannabis ban world wide...
'In 2018, the United States imported 15.7 tons of cannabis, accounting for 54.9 per cent of global imports; it was followed by Germany (7.6 tons, or 26.7 per cent), Uruguay (1.3 tons, or 4.5 per cent), Italy (1.1 tons, or 3.8 per cent) and Australia (1.0 ton, or 3.4 per cent).'
https://www.incb.org/documents/Narcotic-Drugs/Technical-Publications/2019/Narcotic_Drugs_Technical_Publication_2019_web.pdf
See any similarities with countries with high COVID fatality count?
'In 2018, most of the consumption of fentanyl (81.7 per cent) was concentrated in 10 countries, all of which were high-income countries. The three largest consumers of fentanyl were the United States (accounting for 20.8 per cent of global consumption, or 307.9 kg), Germany (17.6 per cent, or 259.4 kg) and the United Kingdom (15.6 per cent, or 230.6 kg). Other major consumers of fentanyl were, in descending order of the amounts consumed, Spain, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia and Belgium.'
https://www.incb.org/documents/Narcotic-Drugs/Technical-Publications/2019/Narcotic_Drugs_Technical_Publication_2019_web.pdf
Aha..this possibly explains the drop in opium import by the US from India in 2018...
'In 2018, fentanyl was mainly manufactured by the United States (740.7 kg, or 39.1 per cent of global manufacture), followed by Germany (548.3 kg, or 28.9 per cent), South Africa (238.4 kg, or 12.6 per cent), Belgium (229.8 kg, or 12.1 per cent) and the United Kingdom (94.7 kg, or 5.0 per cent). '
https://www.incb.org/documents/Narcotic-Drugs/Technical-Publications/2019/Narcotic_Drugs_Technical_Publication_2019_web.pdf
'Starin' at the boob tube, turnin' on the big knob
Tryin' to find some life in the waste land
Fin'ly found a program, gonna deal with Mary Jane
Ready for a trip into hate land
Obnoxious Joe comes on the screen
Along with his guest self-righteous Sam
And one more guy who doesn't count
His hair and clothes are too far out
While pushin' back his glasses Sam is sayin' casually
"I was elected by the masses"
And with that in mind he starts to unwind
A vicious attack on the finest of grasses
Well it's evil, wicked, mean and nasty
(Don't step on the grass, Sam)
And it will ruin our fair country
(Don't be such an ass, Sam)
Well, it will hook your Sue and Johnny
(You're so full of bull, Sam)
All will pay that disagree with me
(Please give up you already lost the fight, man)
Misinformation Sam and Joe
Are feeding to the nation
But the one who didn't count counted them out
By exposing all their false quotations
Faced by a very awkward situation
This is all he'd say to save the day
Well it's evil, wicked, mean and nasty
(Don't step on the grass, Sam)
And it will ruin our fair country
(Don't be such an ass, Sam)
Well, it will hook your Sue and Johnny
(You're so full of bull, Sam)
All will pay that disagree with me
(Please give up you already lost the fight alright)
You waste my coin Sam, all you can
To jail my fellow man
For smoking all the noble weed
You need much more than him
You've been telling lies so long
Some believe they're true
So they close their eyes to things
You have no right to do
Just as soon as you are gone
Hope will start to climb
Please don't stay around too long
You're wasting precious time'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q592hcpm6Ac
Updated Apr 20, 2020, 8:41 PM
'A majority of Americans say that adult-use marijuana legalization has been a success in those states that have implemented it, according to nationwide polling compiled by YouGov.com.
Fifty-five percent of respondents said that statewide laws allowing recreational marijuana use have been either fully or mostly successful. Nineteen percent of respondents said that the laws have been largely unsuccessful. Twenty-six percent voiced no opinion. '
https://norml.org/news/2020/04/23/poll-majority-of-americans-say-adult-use-legalization-policies-have-been-a-success
'First, to state the obvious: This isn’t a great outcome for marijuana advocates. Of the major candidates in the Democratic race, Biden was the only besides Michael Bloomberg not to support the removal of cannabis from the DEA’s list of controlled substances. As recently as November 2019, Biden questioned whether marijuana was a gateway drug—though he has since denied believing that myth.
As for Trump, his wishy-washy views on cannabis have been well-documented over the years of his campaign and presidency. If it’s possible to glean a coherent message from The Donald’s past statements, we’d guess he’s okay with medical but unsure about federal legalization. But in a bad sign for the industry, the latest addition to the rotating band of charlatans and bucket-climbing crabs he calls advisors is press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who once penned an op-ed claiming America’s youth was being “martyred” by legalization in Colorado'
https://hightimes.com/news/politics/commander-cannabis-how-will-trump-biden-approach-marijuana-policy/amp/
'Here’s a breakdown of percentages of people in legal states who said the policy has been a success compared to a failure:
- Colorado (71-17 percent)
- Oregon (69-20 percent)
- Massachusetts (67-15 percent)
- Washington (65-18 percent)
- Nevada (64-17 percent)
- California (59-20 percent)
- Illinois (59-17 percent)
- Michigan (56-20 percent)
- Maine (47-20 percent)'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/most-people-in-recreational-marijuana-states-believe-legalization-is-a-success-poll-finds/
'"This polling data reaffirms that most voters do not experience 'buyer's remorse' following marijuana legalization," NORML's Deputy Director Paul Armentano said. "In the minds of most Americans, adult-use marijuana regulations are operating as voters intended and in a way that is consistent with their expectations.'
https://norml.org/news/2020/05/21/poll-respondents-in-adult-use-marijuana-states-say-legalization-has-been-successful
'“Nearly 9 in 10 Americans are familiar with CBD,” the report says. Some 86% of those surveyed had heard of CBD, and a majority (55%) were interested in learning more. Younger cohorts tended to be more interested than older groups.
Three in five (60%) of consumers surveyed reported using CBD in a context that might be called “unwinding,” such as relaxation, relief of stress or anxiety reduction. The primary use, however (41%), was pain management
Oils and tinctures led the way, at 38% (of the ways in which consumers surveyed consume CBDs). Topicals were the next most widely used method, at 19%; then: food or drinks, 18%; flower, 8%; pills/capsules, 7%; and vaping, 7%.'
https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanoleck/2020/05/28/there-is-an-active-discussion-of-cbd-happening-across-the-country-says-a-new-report-and-that-spells-opportunity/
'By using the mass media as his forum (receiving much support from publisher William Randolph Hearst), Anslinger was the main person behind the creating of an anti-marijuana sentiment during those years. The anti-marijuana propaganda film Reefer Madness from 1936 is a good example of his work.
There were two component in his strategy. First, the message that weed is evil. Second, racism, according to him only latinos and black people were smoking 'marihuana' and made them 'forget their place in society'.
Here below you can read 15 of his most ridiculous quotes about cannabis. You have been warned...'
https://www.cannaconnection.com/blog/7217-harry-j-anslinger-15-ridiculous-quotes-about-marihuana
'According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report, police made 663,367 arrests for marijuana-related violations in 2018. That is more than 21 percent higher than the total number of persons arrested for the commission of violent crimes (521,103). Of those arrested for cannabis-related activities, some 90 percent (608,776) were arrested for marijuana possession offenses only.
"Police across America make a marijuana-related arrest every 48 seconds," NORML Executive Director Erik Altieri said. "At a time when the overwhelming majority of Americans want cannabis to be legal and regulated, it is an outrage that many police departments across the country continue to waste tax dollars and limited law enforcement resources on arresting otherwise law-abiding citizens for simple marijuana possession."'
https://norml.org/news/2019/10/03/fbi-marijuana-arrests-rise-for-third-year-in-a-row-outpace-arrests-for-all-violent-crimes
The story is the same globally..minorities, indigenous people, tribals and the poor are the primary targets of marijuana policing...
'Authors wrote, "In every single state, Black people were more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession, and in some states, Black people were up to six, eight, or almost ten times more likely to be arrested. In 31 states, racial disparities were actually larger in 2018 than they were in 2010."
In two states, Montana and Kentucky, African Americans were arrested for marijuana possession violations at more than nine times the rate of Caucasians – the highest disparity in the country. Colorado and Alaska, which legalized adult-use marijuana sales in 2012 and 2014 respectively, possessed the lowest disparity in marijuana possession arrest rates'
https://norml.org/news/2020/04/23/aclu-report-racial-disparities-persist-in-marijuana-possession-arrests
- 'Nearly three-quarters (73%) of Americans have discussed CBD, including two-thirds (67%) of those never having tried it.
- Roughly two-fifths (39%) of Americans have had CBD recommended to them.
- Almost 9 out of 10 CBD consumers (88%) reported having friends or family who use CBD; among nonconsumers, 41% reported so.
- Americans are broadly favorable of CBD: 84% of consumers and 39% of nonconsumers reported “positive feelings” about it.
- More than 6 in 10 Americans (61%) reported believing that CBD has valid medical uses.'
Get rich...at warp speed...warped indeed...
'When the news broke yesterday that Operation Warp Speed had selected five experimental COVID-19 vaccines to fast-track through testing and, potentially, mass-scale production, it was news even to some top scientists involved with the White House–led program. “It’s been so chaotic, and it’s not even transparent to those of us who are trying to help out,” says a source linked to Warp Speed who asked not to be named.
The New York Times reported that according to “senior officials,” the Trump administration program had chosen vaccines from Moderna, the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and Merck for the crash development program, which aims to have enough safe and proven product to vaccinate 300 million Americans by January 2021. The government’s Biomedical Advanced Research Development Authority (BARDA) had already singled out all four for what could amount to more than $2 billion in funding if they hit milestones. The fifth vaccine flagged by The New York Times is made by Pfizer, whose CEO, Albert Bourla, said on 28 May at a media briefing that the company doesn’t want funding from any government because “We believe we can move faster if we don’t have to involve a third party.”'
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/06/top-us-scientists-left-out-white-house-selection-covid-19-vaccine-shortlist
'Still the numbers are undeniable when it comes to the racially disproportionate arrests.Of those approximate 11,700 arrested for a cannabis charge of some kind, around 10,500 were black. Of those 11,700 arrestees, 709 were white. Of those arrests, 5,987 were for cannabis possession or public consumption arrests were black while 451 were white.
The release of this data is useful for partially understanding where the district falls when it comes to cannabis arrests nationwide. On April 20 of this year, The American Civil Liberties Union released a massive report on racial disparities when it comes to who is arrested for cannabis possession. The report, “A Tale of Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform,” looked at all 50 states’ cannabis possession arrests between 2010-2018 and revealed a national average in which a black person was 3.6 times more likely to be arrested for cannabis than a white person.'
https://www.outlawreport.com/blog/washington-dc-cannabis-arrests-race
Arizona, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania....
https://mjbizdaily.com/executives-pinpoint-least-favorite-marijuana-markets-and-ones-they-are-watching/
'There’s a national component to marijuana reform too — something that Joe Biden needs to embrace. Currently, the Drug Enforcement Administration still lists marijuana as it has for 50 years: as a Schedule 1 drug, deemed as dangerous as heroin and technically more dangerous than opioids. It should not remain there.
Thankfully, Biden’s been evolving over the last year. Alas, while supporting decriminalization, he still opposes legalization.
Marijuana needs to be legalized intelligently, guarding against kids getting hooked and stoned drivers taking to the roads. But any way you cut it, the public health harm of pot is minuscule compared to that of alcohol. Legalize it.'
https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-edit-marijuana-reform-20200615-dcl7riz2gnbpfikeizdrcpplwq-story.html
- 'In 2018, more than 660,000 U.S. arrests were made for cannabis-related charges, averaging once per 48 seconds.
- Since California became the first state to legalize medical cannabis in 1996, nearly 17,000,000 people have been arrested on cannabis charges.
- According to the ACLU, blacks in America are nearly 4x likelier than whites to be arrested for cannabis offenses, despite similar rates of use.
- Among states reflecting the most racial disparities (e.g., Kentucky and Montana), blacks were nearly 10x times likelier to be arrested.
- While legalization has fundamentally reduced overall U.S. drug arrests, it has not mitigated racial disparities in policing, as minorities continue to bear the brunt of cannabis-related policing'
'In 2018, more than 26 million Americans reported their regular consumption of cannabis, marking a 74% increase among the population since 2009. The trend has been fueled by convergence in recognition of the therapeutic value for medical cannabis, greater understanding of cannabis’ comparative health effects relative to alcohol and other drugs, and erosion of the stigma associated with cannabis as more jurisdictions have decriminalized and legalized its use.
Despite the surging usage rates, prohibition enforcement continues apace. In 2018, someone in the U.S. was arrested on average every 48 seconds for a cannabis offense or more than 660,000 times that single year. While arrests rates have fallen from a peak of more than 870,000 in 2007, marijuana continues to make up the largest category of U.S. drug arrests, accounting for upwards of half (45%) of all drug-related charges. Meanwhile, since 1996, nearly 17 million people have been arrested on marijuana offences, a number equivalent to 5% of the overall U.S. population'
https://newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/racial-disparities-and-cannabis-legalization-in-american-policing/
'Although cannabis is a global growth story, there's no question that the U.S. is at the center of this expansion. The United States is already responsible for the lion's share of legal weed sales, in spite of the fact that marijuana remains a Schedule I (i.e., illicit) substance at the federal level. Even with presidential candidates Joe Biden (D) and Donald Trump (R) unlikely to alter this classification, that's not going to stop legalization momentum at the state level.
With less than five months left before Americans hit the polls, a dozen states have proposed various marijuana initiatives, 10 of which are looking to legalize medical marijuana, recreational cannabis, or both at the same time. While many of these proposals are still in the signature gathering stage or pending official review, the following four states look to have the best chance to "go green" come November.'
https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/06/07/the-4-likeliest-states-to-legalize-marijuana-in-no.aspx
'The Library of Congress (LOC) is documenting racist depictions of marijuana in early 20th century news coverage that helped to drive the criminalization of cannabis, highlighting sensationalized articles about the plant that the federal research body says effectively served as “anti-Mexican propaganda.”
As part of the institution’s “Chronicling America” project, which digitizes media from throughout U.S. history, LOC published a timeline last week that gives examples of headlines concerning cannabis from 1897 to 1915.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/library-of-congress-highlights-racist-news-coverage-used-to-justify-criminalizing-marijuana-a-century-ago/
It's so great that it managed to prohibit cannabis world wide leading to a century of all kinds of discrimination against all kinds of people of every single nation all over the world...what pompeousness..
'“Our nation is so special and it’s the greatest nation in the history of civilization,” Pompeo argued at the press conference earlier this month. “It’s so special that challenges like the ones that we’re confronting here in the United States today will be managed head-on, there will be a political process that’s engaged of, there will be wide open debate, and our core principles—the fact that we respect every human being because they are made in the image of God—will be reflected in the way that the United States responds to these challenge.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/feds-expose-religious-discrimination-against-marijuana-consumers-in-other-countries-while-ignoring-u-s-policy/
'Americans consider marijuana consumption more morally acceptable than gay relationships, medical testing of animals, the death penalty and abortion, according to a new survey from Gallup.
The poll released on Tuesday shows a continuation of the growing acceptance of cannabis use among Americans as more states opt to legalize marijuana for medical or recreational purposes.
Seven-out-of-ten respondents said using cannabis is morally acceptable. Only 28 percent said the activity is morally unacceptable.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/marijuana-use-is-more-moral-than-porn-gay-relations-and-wearing-animal-fur-americans-say/
'The Americas remains the region with the highest annual prevalence of cannabis use (8.8 per cent among the population aged 15–64). In the United States of America, cannabis use has been consistently increasing since 2007, in particular among young adults (aged 18–25) and older adults (aged 26 and older). The main increase has been observed among regular users of cannabis; for example, the prevalence of daily or near-daily use of cannabis doubled over the period 2009–2018. In 2018, 4.7 per cent of the population aged 18 and older – around 11.6 million people – were estimated to be daily or near-daily users of cannabis. In comparison, in Western and Central Europe, nearly 1 per cent of the adult population were estimated to be daily or near-daily users of cannabis, a rate that has remained more or less stable over the past decade.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'The number of overdose deaths in the United States reached its peak in 2017 at 70,237 deaths (21.7 deaths per 100,000 population), of which 47,600 (68 per cent: 14.9 deaths per 100,000 population) were attributed to opioids. In 2018, for the first time since 1999, the number of overdose deaths declined over the previous year by 4 per cent to 67,367 deaths (20.7 deaths per 100,000 population). Opioids were responsible for most of those deaths, accounting for 46,802 in total in 2018 (14.6 deaths per 100,000 population), of which 67 per cent were attributed to fentanyls.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'The opioid crisis continues in North America, with a new record level in the number of opioid overdose deaths attributed to the use of fentanyl and its analogues. These substances are added to heroin and other drugs as adulterants and are also sold as counterfeit prescription opioids, such as oxycodone or hydrocodone, and even as counterfeit benzodiazepines, to a large unsuspecting population of users of opioids and other drugs. In 2018, in the United States, 10.3 million people or 3.7 per cent of the population aged 12 and older had misused opioids in the past year. Of those people, 9.9 million (3.6 per cent of the population) reported the non-medical use of prescription opioids while nearly 800,000 reported past-year use of heroin.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'Globally, an estimated 19 million people were pastyear users of cocaine in 2018, corresponding to 0.4 per cent of the global population aged 15–64. The main cocaine markets continue to be North America and Western and Central Europe, with a prevalence of use of 2.1 per cent and 1.4 per cent, respectively, while the highest prevalence of past-year cocaine use is in Australia and New Zealand, at 2.2 per cent of the population aged 15–64. Cocaine use is also higher than the global average in Central America (0.7 per cent) and South America (1.0 per cent).' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'Top Trump administration officials say drug overdose deaths are surging amid the coronavirus pandemic, driven by increased substance use due to anxiety, social isolation and depression.
A White House drug policy office analysis shows an 11.4 percent year-over-year increase in fatalities for the first four months of 2020, confirming experts’ early fears that precautions like quarantines and lockdowns combined with economic uncertainty would exacerbate the addiction crisis'
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/29/pandemic-unleashes-a-spike-in-overdose-deaths-345183
'The Gallup poll, published Tuesday, asked 1,028 Americans in all 50 states and the nation’s capital whether they deemed 21 different behaviors or policies, from using birth control to the death penalty, moral or not. More respondents viewed marijuana use as acceptable than they did abortion, pornography, having children outside of marriage and wearing fur.'
https://www.nj.com/marijuana/2020/06/most-americans-see-smoking-weed-as-morally-acceptable-survey-finds.html
'When Baldwin asked how many candidates Warp Speed ultimately would select, Disbrow said, “More than one.” He laughed and apologized. “I’m sorry, it really is procurement sensitive,” Disbrow added, stressing that the stock market is affected by these negotiations. “You will see the press releases when we award these contracts.”
Another witness, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins, said a group of vaccine experts his agency convened to work with Warp Speed did a scientific review of 50 candidate COVID-19 vaccines. This review has not been made public, and NIH did not reply to a request for a copy. Members of that group have also expressed surprise at some of Warp Speed’s choices.'
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/operation-warp-speed-s-opaque-choices-covid-19-vaccines-draw-senate-scrutiny
'Heroin trafficking in the Americas remains concentrated in North America. The subregion accounted for 94 per cent of all quantities of heroin and morphine seized in the Americas in 2018, when seizures reported in North America were almost four times as high as a decade earlier. Seizures made in the United States accounted for 87 per cent of all heroin and morphine seized in the Americas in 2018, followed by Mexico (the country where most opium is produced in the region), Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Canada and Guatemala.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Most heroin (and morphine) trafficking in the Americas continues to take place within North America, i.e., from Mexico to the United States and, to a far lesser extent, from Colombia and from Guatemala (typically via Mexico) to the United States. Based on forensic profiling, United States authorities estimated in 2017 that over 90 per cent of the heroin samples analysed originated in Mexico and 4 per cent in South America, while around 1 per cent originated in South-West Asia. This stands in stark contrast to a decade earlier (2007), when only 25 per cent was sourced from Mexico and 70 per cent was imported from South America.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Nonetheless, seizures of methamphetamine remain highly concentrated: the three countries responsible for most of the methamphetamine seized worldwide in 2018 (the United States, Thailand and Mexico) accounted for 80 per cent of the global total, while the three countries reporting the largest quantities of amphetamine (Turkey, Pakistan and the Syrian Arab Republic) and the three countries reporting the most “ecstasy” seized (Turkey, the United States and Australia) accounted for a significantly smaller proportion of the global total (around 50 per cent) in 2018.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The United States reported the dismantling of 1,607 methamphetamine laboratories in 2018, accounting for 78 per cent of all methamphetamine laboratories dismantled worldwide that year. However, the overall output of domestic methamphetamine manufacture in the United States now appears to be considerably smaller than the potential output produced by several of the large, industrial-scale laboratories found in other parts of the world, such as Mexico and East and South-East Asia, in recent years. Over the past few years, the United States has reported that most of the methamphetamine found on its market has been smuggled into the country from abroad, most notably from Mexico. Most of the clandestine production and smuggling seems to be controlled by various Mexican drug cartels.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The vast majority of the methamphetamine production facilities dismantled in the United States were “kitchen laboratories” (1,426), which typically produce two ounces or less per production cycle for local demand, although the overall figure also included the dismantling of 11 industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratories in the United States in 2018. Nevertheless, the overall number of clandestine methamphetamine laboratories detected in the United States fell by about 90 per cent over the period 2010–2018 and by 93 per cent since the peak in 2004. According to the United States authorities, the initial decline after 2004 resulted from improved precursor control, notably through the regulation of over-the-counter sales of methamphetamine precursor chemicals such as ephedrine preparations and pseudoephedrine, and ongoing efforts to dismantle laboratories, which acted as a deterrent to domestic methamphetamine manufacture.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The vast majority of the methamphetamine production facilities dismantled in the United States were “kitchen laboratories” (1,426), which typically produce two ounces or less per production cycle for local demand, although the overall figure also included the dismantling of 11 industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratories in the United States in 2018. Nevertheless, the overall number of clandestine methamphetamine laboratories detected in the United States fell by about 90 per cent over the period 2010–2018 and by 93 per cent since the peak in 2004. According to the United States authorities, the initial decline after 2004 resulted from improved precursor control, notably through the regulation of over-the-counter sales of methamphetamine precursor chemicals such as ephedrine preparations and pseudoephedrine, and ongoing efforts to dismantle laboratories, which acted as a deterrent to domestic methamphetamine manufacture.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'By contrast, the decline in the number of dismantled laboratories after 2010 was no longer in line with the upward trend in a number of other indicators, which had been clearly pointing to an expansion of the methamphetamine market, both in terms of supply (rising seizures, falling purity adjusted prices) and demand (rising prevalence rates, positive tests among the general workforce, treatment admissions and deaths). The purity of methamphetamine rose from 95 per cent in the first quarter of 2012 to 98 per cent in the first quarter of 2018, while the potency of methamphetamine increased from 85 to 97 per cent over the same period. This indicates an improvement in the know-how of organized crime groups manufacturing methamphetamine from various (non-scheduled) P-2-P precursors in neighbouring Mexico, an overall increase in the supply of methamphetamine in the United States and the emergence of a potentially even more problematic substance, showing everhigher levels of purity and potency, thus increasing the risk of overdose.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'While the annual prevalence of methamphetamine use more than doubled from 0.3 to 0.7 per cent of the population aged 12 and older in the United States over the period 2008–2018, the number of psychostimulants involved in drug poisoning deaths in the United States rose from 1,302 to 12,676 deaths over the same period, equivalent to an almost 10-fold increase. This increase may have been inflated by an increasing number of contaminations of psychostimulants with opioids (such as fentanyl and its analogues); however, psychostimulant-related deaths excluding any involvement of opioids still showed an eightfold increase, from 807 deaths in 2008 to 6,271 deaths in 2018.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The decline in the domestic supply of methamphetamine, indicated by the falling number of manufacturing facilities dismantled in the United States, going hand in hand with increasing use and an overall increase in the supply of the drug, can be explained by the increasing importance of rapidly growing illegal methamphetamine imports from clandestine manufacture sites in neighbouring Mexico. According to the United States authorities, the latter phenomenon appears to have resulted from attempts by Mexican organized crime groups to diversify their drug portfolio as they attempted to reduce their dependence on cocaine produced in countries in South America, preferring instead to source the required chemicals from China and produce methamphetamine themselves. Methamphetamine shipments intercepted along the south-western border of the United States increased almost fourfold between 2013 and 2018.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The largest quantities of methamphetamine seized in 2018 were the quantities seized in the United States, followed by Thailand and Mexico. Marked increases in the quantities seized from 2017 to 2018 were reported by the United States and Thailand, while the quantities of methamphetamine seized in China declined, in line with reports of wastewater analysis that showed a significant decline in methamphetamine consumption in that country.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020,
https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'In the United States, most methamphetamine is sold as methamphetamine. However, there have also been reports of tablets sold as “ecstasy” that contained methamphetamine instead (notably in Missouri). The sale of methamphetamine in the form of falsified Adderall tablets is a new phenomenon, with laboratories manufacturing such falsified medicaments found in a number of states, in particular Georgia and California. The expansion of methamphetamine trafficking has also gone hand in hand with the increasingly common practice of mixing methamphetamine with fentanyls. This practice has proved to be particularly harmful and has contributed to the rapid rise in methamphetamine-related deaths in recent years.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The quantities of methamphetamine seized in North America rose sixfold between 2009 and 2018, to 117 tons. North American methamphetamine seizures accounted for more than 99 per cent of all the methamphetamine seized in the Americas in 2018. Methamphetamine seizures in the subregion were dominated by those reported by the United States (71 per cent of the total in 2018), followed by Mexico (29 per cent), while the quantities of methamphetamine seized in Canada (0.4 per cent) remained more limited' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'As cross-border methamphetamine trafficking in North America consists mainly of trafficking from Mexico to the United States, the south-western border thus remains the main entry point for illegal imports of methamphetamine into the United States: in 2018, 95 per cent of the methamphetamine seizures made by United States customs authorities were effected at or near the country’s south-western border. Quantities of methamphetamine seized in the United States as a whole almost tripled between 2013 and 2018, whereas those intercepted along the south-western border quadrupled during the same period. Trafficking modi operandi include concealment by human couriers on commercial flights, the use of parcel delivery services, and the use of pick-up trucks and commercial buses, as well as unusual goods deliveries such as concealment in metal collars, cargo stabilizers, electric transformers and industrial drill bits, reflecting the increasing sophistication of methamphetamine smuggling activities. Another emerging trend over the past few years has been the use of drones, which easily fly over physical barriers on the border while the operators remain at a safe distance from where the drugs are dropped, thereby reducing the risk of arrest.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Practically all the major transnational criminal organizations in Mexico seem to be involved in the smuggling of methamphetamine to the United States. They include the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the Juárez Cartel, the Gulf Cartel, the Los Zetas Cartel and the Beltrán-Leyva Organization. In parallel, outlaw motorcycle gangs continue to be involved in the distribution of methamphetamine within the United States. The increased involvement of Mexican organized crime groups in the trafficking of drugs other than cocaine has contributed to the spread of methamphetamine trafficking from the western United States to the whole country over the past decade, including states in the eastern part of the country that had previously been spared from the large-scale harmful use of methamphetamine.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The United States, for example, has been reported by other countries as a country of departure of methamphetamine for Oceania (Australia and New Zealand), Asia (Japan, the Philippines, Hong Kong, China and Mongolia) and Europe (Ireland). Moreover, methamphetamine trafficking has been reported not only from Mexico or from Canada into the United States but also from the United States to those two countries, suggesting a number of two-way trafficking flows across the countries of North America. Methamphetamine trafficked from Canada has been reported in the United States, South America (Chile), Oceania (Australia and New Zealand) and a few countries in Europe (Iceland and Latvia).' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'This shift from China as the main location of methamphetamine manufacture and trafficking to other countries in East and South-East Asia is also indirectly reflected in trafficking data reported by Australia. China and Hong Kong, China, were the two main embarkation points for methamphetamine trafficked to Australia in 2015, whereas in the fiscal years 2016/17 and 2017/18 the most important embarkation points were the United States, followed by Thailand and Malaysia. In fact, in 2018, the Australian authorities reported that the importance of China as a source country for methamphetamine had declined while there has been an emerging trend in the growth of quantities of seized methamphetamine originating in South-East Asia, mainly in the Mekong region, including the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar and Thailand.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'While methamphetamine trafficking flows from East and South-East Asia to countries outside the subregion remain modest, some smuggling to destinations around the world was reported, mainly smuggling from Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar in 2018 or, when the period is extended to the past five years, mainly from China and Thailand. Destinations outside the subregion included countries in South Asia, the Near and Middle East (Saudi Arabia as well as Israel), Oceania (Australia and New Zealand), North America (the United States as well as Canada), Western Europe (notably Switzerland as well as Italy, Germany, France, Spain and Iceland), Eastern Europe (notably the Russian Federation) and Africa (notably South Africa) over the period 2014–2018' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Methamphetamine found in Australia and New Zealand is both locally manufactured and, to a larger extent, imported from North America and Asia. In the fiscal year 2017/18, methamphetamine was mainly smuggled into Australia from the United States, followed by Thailand, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, China (including Hong Kong, China), Mexico, Lebanon, Viet Nam and India. The United States was also the main source country of the methamphetamine found in New Zealand in 2018, followed by Canada and, in SouthEast Asia, by Malaysia and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The largest quantities of cannabis herb seized in 2018 were those reported in the Americas (61 per cent of the total), with South America alone accounting for 43 per cent of the global total. Of note is the marked decline in the share of seizures made in North America, which had long been the subregion reporting the largest cannabis herb seizures: on average, 50 per cent of the global total over the period 2008–2018, falling to 17 per cent of the global total in 2018, that is, to less than the total for Africa that year (19 per cent). The next largest regional reported seizure totals in 2018 were those for Asia and Europe.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020,
https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The quantity of cannabis herb seized in 2018 declined by 16 per cent compared with a year earlier, falling to 4,303 tons, the lowest level since 1999. As compared with 2010, the quantity seized fell by 34 per cent at the global level, largely due to decreases reported in North America (-84 per cent), with marked declines being reported by Mexico, the United States and Canada. Discussions and policies aimed at liberalizing the cannabis markets, including changes in the drug’s legislation in Canada and some jurisdictions of the United States, legalizing the production, distribution and the recreational use of cannabis, seem to have played a key role in this respect. By contrast, the quantities of cannabis herb seized almost doubled in the rest of the world over the period 2010–2018 (South America: +194 per cent; Oceania: +94 per cent; Europe: +73 per cent; Asia: +71 per cent; Africa: +53 per cent). The global cannabis herb trafficking index, based on qualitative information reported by Member States on trends in cannabis herb trafficking, also increased over the same period, although the trend appeared to be stabilizing in 2018.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'In 2018, the largest quantities of cannabis herb seized worldwide continued to be those reported by Paraguay, followed by the United States and India. Cannabis herb produced in Paraguay is reported to have been mainly destined for neighbouring Brazil (77 per cent) and Argentina (20 per cent). Over the period 2008–2018, the largest cannabis herb seizures worldwide took place in the United States, followed by Mexico, Paraguay, Colombia, Nigeria, Morocco, Brazil, India and Egypt' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
Afghanistan and Mexico source the heroin and morphine. Mexico, Thailand, Myanmar and China source the methamphetamine. The Middle East and Eastern Europe sources the amphetamine. The US consumes heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine. Europe consumes heroin, morphine, methamphetamine and amphetamine. Asia consumes heroin, morphine and methamphetamine. Australia consumes methamphetamine. The Middle East consumes heroin and amphetamine. West Asia consumes heroin and methamphetamine. All countries grow and consume cannabis. Opioids, methamphetamine and amphetamines kill the most in terms of drug deaths, cannabis kills none. Who are the leading opponents to cannabis legalization and leading enforcers of global anti-cannabis policy? The countries involved the most in heroin, morphine, amphetamines and methamphetamines. They put on a mask of concern about harms from drugs, produce, sell and consume the most dangerous synthetic drugs and vehemently oppose cannabis legalization worldwide while clandestinely feeding their habits and protecting their sources. They use arms and armies to protect and promote their synthetic drug habits, and drug money to fund and wage a war on cannabis everywhere, pushing man and planet ever closer to death on massive scales and away from the safe, healing cannabis herb...
Jul 10, 2020, 1:14 PM
'Altieri, the pro-marijuana lobbyist, said coming up with a legalization policy wouldn’t take much work: Sanders had one, as did Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Andrew Yang. Or Biden could check in with Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, who wrote a legalization bill based on the argument that legalization is essential to the criminal-justice-reform conversation. Altieri is not impressed with how little Biden has moved so far. “Where he’s at now would have been maybe a bold stance in 1988. It’s not much of one in 2020,” he told me.'
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/07/biden-marijuana-pot-legalize/613777/
'NORML urges candidate Biden to join with many of his Democratic colleagues and to throw his support behind The MORE Act, HR 3884 — which would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act and once and for all allow individual states the flexibility and authority to regulate cannabis how best they see fit.
The MORE Act would also make several other important changes. For example, it permits physicians affiliated with the Veterans Administration to make medical marijuana recommendations to qualifying veterans who reside in legal states and it incentivizes states to move ahead with expungement policies that will end the stigma and lost opportunities suffered by those with past, low-level cannabis convictions. If approved, the MORE Act also allows the Small Business Administration to support entrepreneurs and businesses as they seek to gain a foothold in this emerging industry.
The MORE Act became the first bill in US history to end federal marijuana prohibition to be approved in the House Judiciary Committee on November, 20th, 2019 with a bipartisan vote of 24-10.'
https://norml.org/blog/2020/07/09/bidens-marijuana-plan-is-out-of-step-with-public-opinion-would-do-little-to-mitigate-the-failed-policy-of-federal-prohibition/
'Medical and recreational cannabis sales in the United States are on track to exceed $15 billion this year, a jump of 40% over 2019, according to the new Marijuana Business Factbook.
Moreover, total U.S. sales could reach as high as $37 billion by 2024.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/week-in-review-us-cannabis-sales-to-top-15b-illinois-licensing-delays-nj-at-forefront-of-legalization-more/
'Trump’s remarks about the causal relationship between weed and IQ are disputed by one of his own governmental agencies, the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
“Recent results from two prospective longitudinal twin studies did not support a causal relationship between marijuana use and IQ loss,” NIDA says on its website. “No predictable difference was found between twins when one used marijuana and one did not.”'
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/z3bmxj/trump-says-weed-makes-you-dumb-leaked-audio-reveals
'Here's the crux: legalizing marijuana no longer exposes pot companies to 280E and its high effective tax rate, but it also doesn't generate nearly as much taxable income for the federal government, even if a federal tax is added to legal weed sales. Keep in mind that adding yet another tax to legal marijuana would mean that some consumers will shift their buying habits away from legal channels and toward the black market due to cost.
In other words, the status quo of marijuana being illegal at the federal level with more and more states legalizing has become highly profitable for the federal government. That's a big reason there's a reluctance to legalize.'
https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/06/29/the-surprising-reason-the-us-may-be-reluctant-to-l.aspx
'The probes froze billion-dollar deals in place for months. And while companies waited, the fast-moving industry shifted to the point where deals had to be renegotiated or abandoned, even after they received approval. At least three large acquisitions failed after receiving DOJ requests for vast amounts of extra information that required months to prepare and deliver.
“It was a pain in the ass,” one industry insider at a company that went through the review and asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue, told VICE News'
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/akzk9b/trumps-war-on-legal-weed
'There is evidence that the number of polydrug users has increased in the United States and in the United Kingdom because in both countries the ratio of the aggregated number of users of individual drugs compared with the total number of drug users has followed an upward trend. It is still difficult, however, to assess the actual impact of this trend in terms of health consequences.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'However, polydrug trafficking is not limited to Europe and can also be found in other regions and subregions, including North America, South America, Asia, Oceania and Africa. For a number of years, for example, polydrug trafficking organizations have been dismantled in the United States. A recent example was the dismantlement in July 2019 of an organization involving more than 50 people selling counterfeit oxycodone pills (containing fentanyl), methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and benzodiazepine pills, as well as various types of weapons.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'In 2018, fentanyl was mainly manufactured by the United States (740.7 kg, or 39.1 per cent of global manufacture), followed by Germany (548.3 kg, or 28.9 per cent), South Africa (238.4 kg, or 12.6 per cent), Belgium (229.8 kg, or 12.1 per cent) and the United Kingdom (94.7 kg, or 5.0 per cent). '
https://www.incb.org/documents/Narcotic-Drugs/Technical-Publications/2019/Narcotic_Drugs_Technical_Publication_2019_web.pdf
'In 2018, most of the consumption of fentanyl (81.7 per cent) was concentrated in 10 countries, all of which were high-income countries. The three largest consumers of fentanyl were the United States (accounting for 20.8 per cent of global consumption, or 307.9 kg), Germany (17.6 per cent, or 259.4 kg) and the United Kingdom (15.6 per cent, or 230.6 kg). Other major consumers of fentanyl were, in descending order of the amounts consumed, Spain, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia and Belgium.'
https://www.incb.org/documents/Narcotic-Drugs/Technical-Publications/2019/Narcotic_Drugs_Technical_Publication_2019_web.pdf
'In 2018, the United States imported 15.7 tons of cannabis, accounting for 54.9 per cent of global imports; it was followed by Germany (7.6 tons, or 26.7 per cent), Uruguay (1.3 tons, or 4.5 per cent), Italy (1.1 tons, or 3.8 per cent) and Australia (1.0 ton, or 3.4 per cent).'
https://www.incb.org/documents/Narcotic-Drugs/Technical-Publications/2019/Narcotic_Drugs_Technical_Publication_2019_web.pdf
'Republican Sen. Cory Gardner on Friday announced he’d received assurances from the president that federal agents would leave alone states like Colorado that have legalized recreational cannabis. Gardner had been blocking nominees to the Department of Justice since January over the issue, and on Friday relented.'
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/04/13/trump-agrees-leave-state-legal-marijuana-programs-alone/515376002/
'A federal judge has ordered two initiative petitions seeking to decriminalize marijuana possession in Garrettsville and Windham be placed on the November ballot, a month after they were denied consideration by local elections officials. '
http://www.record-courier.com/news/20180920/judge-portage-marijuana-initiatives-must-appear-on-ballot
'In the eyes of the U.S. federal government, “we don’t recognize that as a legal business,” Todd Owen, executive assistant commissioner for CBP’s Office of Field Operations told Politico earlier this month.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/canadians-involved-in-marijuana-industry-not-welcome-in-us-feds-confirm/
This is a reform that's needed in almost every country's criminal justice system...definitely India's as well...
'“Our broken criminal justice system is a cancer on the soul of our nation that’s disproportionately preyed upon low-income Americans, the addicted, and people of color. This bill is a meaningful step in the right direction that will help correct the ills of the failed War on Drugs. It will have a profound effect on thousands of families suffering under the burden of our broken system,” Sen. Booker said.'
https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senate-and-house-lawmakers-release-updated-first-step-act-
I fully agree...
Former Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Andy Slavitt tweeted that descheduling marijuana would be "a sensible evolution."
https://twitter.com/ASlavitt/status/1066493141669289985
'The House and Senate Appropriations Committees will soon begin crafting their own spending bills for FY20, and legalization advocates expect that the new House Democratic majority will propose removing all restrictions on D.C.’s ability to spend its own money on cannabis policy changes and implementation.
Trump’s new budget request also proposes cutting funding for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy—commonly referred to as the drug czar’s office—by more than 93 percent by moving its key projects, the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas and Drug-Free Communities programs, to the Department of Justice and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, respectively.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/trump-budget-proposes-loosening-dc-marijuana-legalization-restrictions/
Legalize marijuana federally in the US and in Mexico. Plant a border fence containing varieties of marijuana from the US and Mexico as a joint exercise.
'But Carroll also said winning the opioid battle will take more than just a wall.
He toured the Volunteers of America Freedom House which provides comprehensive services for veterans and pregnant women, at the invitation of Kentucky U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell.
Carroll said the 34 billion federal dollars being spent to fight the opioid crisis are equally balanced between law enforcement and treatment centers such as Freedom House.'
https://www.wdrb.com/news/in-louisville-us-drug-czar-says-border-wall-can-help/article_3008f122-4993-11e9-a3fb-571cce2a949d.html
'The strategy is intended to establish benchmarks for the White House to evaluate the $30 billion allocated annually to National Drug Control Program agencies. McNeil said the White House has not shared documents sufficiently explaining how it was able to certify budgets in fiscal years 2017 and 2018 without a strategy.
The documents offered so far fail to provide adequate information about how the office formulated the strategy eventually issued in January, McNeil said, such as the stakeholders involved in its development.'
https://morningconsult.com/2019/03/07/house-oversight-orders-drug-czar-provide-new-drug-strategy-60-days/
'Can marijuana be beneficial to your health? Most American adults — 81 percent — think so, according to new national survey results published online by Annals of Internal Medicine.'
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/the-big-number-most-adults-think-marijuana-can-be-good-for-health/2018/08/17/8cd0f5ea-998e-11e8-b60b-1c897f17e185_story.html
'In a new poll from Gallup, 45 percent of U.S. adults said they had tried marijuana at least once in their lives. That's the highest percentage in the history of the yearly poll, which started in 1969, Gallup said. Last year, 43 percent of Americans said they had tried pot at least once.
There's also been a rise in the percentage of Americans who currently smoke pot. This year, 12 percent of American said they currently smoke marijuana, up from 7 percent in 2013.'
https://www.livescience.com/59871-americans-tried-pot-gallup.html
'Overall, the researchers found that 81 percent of U.S. adults believe that marijuana has at least one benefit. The most common benefit named was pain management, followed by treatment of diseases such as epilepsy and relief from anxiety, stress and depression. (They're right on one of those, at least: The FDA recently approved the first marijuana-derived drug as a treatment for two severe types of epilepsy.) A larger proportion of U.S. adults, 91 percent, said they believe marijuana has at least one risk. The most common one was legal problems, followed by addiction and then impaired memory.'
https://www.livescience.com/63141-marijuana-assumed-beneficial.html
'NCIA’s report titled “How the U.S. is Falling Behind in the Regulated Global Cannabis Market,” explains how a lack of federal regulation and the inability to expand beyond state borders means U.S. cannabis companies are constrained in their ability to grow and are at a competitive disadvantage to cannabis companies in other countries, with Canada and Israel being the most prominent examples.'
https://thecannabisindustry.org/press-releases/legal-marijuana-sales-begin-in-canada-u-s-industry-org-urges-congress-to-follow/
'On Wednesday, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) issued a memo to his party’s leadership laying out a step-by-step process for how they can pass marijuana legislation in 2019 should they control one or both chambers of Congress.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/read-rep-earl-blumenauers-marijuana-memo-to-democrats/
Both models showed a strong likelihood of federal marijuana legalization “by the end of 2022,” though. The probability that it would happen after 2028 is lower than 30 percent.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/when-will-marijuana-finally-be-legalized-nationwide-researchers-have-a-forecast/
'With a majority of states now permitting legal use in some form, and several states poised to relax their laws this November, we decided to take a graphical look at the country’s most popular illicit drug.'
https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2018/oct/26/marijuana-legalization-5-charts/
'At least 21 major party gubernatorial nominees on U.S. ballots this year support legalizing cannabis, a new Marijuana Moment analysis finds. That's far more than have embraced marijuana law reform than in any previous election cycle.'
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomangell/2018/11/01/marijuana-in-the-governors-mansion-record-number-of-candidates-say-legalize-it/#445bb9f92e93
'In short, the person who sits in the governor’s mansion can have a big influence over whether state-level reform efforts proceed.
Such reforms can include supporting legalization efforts, leading the implementation of voter initiatives and making the market more business friendly with moves such as adding qualifying patient conditions to a medical marijuana program'
https://mjbizdaily.com/gubernatorial-changes-could-bode-well-for-marijuana-market-growth/
Today's a good day for marijuana in the US and therefore worldwide. Election results for marijuana from Tom Angell's Marijuana Moment newsletter:
- Michigan legalized marijuana.
- Missouri voters approved medical cannabis.
- Utah approved medical cannabis, too.
- Ohio voters in five cities passed local marijuana decriminalization measures.
- In Wisconsin, voters in a number of counties and cities approved nonbinding cannabis advisory questions.
'Cannabis is now legal for adults in ten states and the District of Columbia, and 33 states have effective medical marijuana laws. Cannabis is legal in some form in 47 states.'
https://thecannabisindustry.org/press-releases/marijuana-ballot-measures-pass-in-three-states-as-midterm-elections-pave-the-way-for-progress-in-2019/
'Marijuana scored a sweeping victory at the ballot box on Tuesday, with voters approving new markets in Michigan, Missouri and Utah that eventually could generate $2 billion in medical and recreational sales.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/key-cannabis-legalization-wins-could-bring-in-upwards-of-2-billion-in-new-sales/
'Three Democratic lawmakers poised to chair major House committees have each gone on the record saying marijuana reform will be on the agenda in the next Congress when they and fellow party members take control of the gavels.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/three-incoming-house-committee-chairs-call-for-marijuana-reform-in-next-congress/
'Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein today named Billy J. Williams, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, chair of the Attorney General’s Marijuana Working Group. The working group is part of the Attorney General Advisory Committee’s (AGAC) Controlled Substances Subcommittee.'
https://www.justice.gov/usao-or/pr/deputy-attorney-general-names-us-attorney-williams-chair-national-marijuana-working-group
This man as US President in the last election was probably a missed opportunity for the American people...
'Sanders—who has co-sponsored several far-reaching marijuana reform bills and called on supporters to pressure Congress to legalize cannabis— said a lot of lessons can be drawn from the national conversation around issues like mass incarceration and police brutality.
“What we learned is that the American people, including many conservatives, understand that we need fundamental reform of a broken criminal justice system, which includes by the way, ending this disastrous so-called war on drugs, which has destroyed many lives,” he said in the speech.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/bernie-sanders-blasts-marijuana-prohibition-in-new-book/
'Anti-marijuana Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) may have lost his reelection bid in the midterms, but for another few weeks he still has the power to prevent cannabis amendments from advancing as chairman of the House Rules Committee—and that’s just what he did on Wednesday.
This time, Sessions, who has overseen the blockage of more than three dozen separate cannabis-related proposals from even being considered on the House floor during the 115th Congress, shot down an amendment to ensure tax fairness for legal cannabis businesses.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/pete-sessions-and-republicans-block-another-marijuana-amendment/
'The Congressional Budget Office is currently scoring the bill. Once that’s complete and language is officially filed, the Farm Bill will be teed up for up-or-down votes in both chambers of Congress and, pending approval, sent to the president’s desk. Lawmakers are hoping to pass the bill before the end of the year.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/hemp-legalization-is-officially-in-the-final-farm-bill/
'A long-awaited end to five decades of hemp prohibition has been approved by a House-Senate panel, potentially opening the door to hemp production in all 50 states for any use – including CBD.
The measure is included in the 2018 Farm Bill, which passed the Senate 87-13 on Tuesday and still must pass the House before work is concluded for the year and all pending legislation dies.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/farm-bill-agreement-allows-nationwide-hemp-cultivation-for-any-use-including-cbd/
'Hemp legalization awaits the pen of President Donald Trump after the U.S. House on Wednesday followed the Senate and approved a 2018 Farm Bill that removes hemp from the U.S. Controlled Substances Act.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/hemp-legalization-clears-house/
'Republicans say the change is a way to right the wrongs of the 1980s — a decade marked by first lady Nancy Reagan’s anti-drug mantra of “Just Say No” — by restoring basic fairness to the criminal justice system. It also has a financial component: Republicans said revising the criminal justice system will save money by moving people convicted of low-level offenses out of prison and into programs that will help reduce the recidivism rate. It is also a response to moves on the local level, where similar changes passed in some of the nation’s reddest states, including Oklahoma and Texas.'
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/how-republicans-pivoted-from-the-war-on-drugs-to-cutting-prison-sentences/2018/12/19/61846d04-0383-11e9-9122-82e98f91ee6f_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e6c63aa6949f
'“It’s time we legalize marijuana, but at the minimum, we must reduce the conflicts between federal and state laws so that the industry can continue to create jobs and bolster state economies,” Senator Martin Heinrich, (D-NM), the ranking member of the bicameral congressional panel, said in a press release. “This conflict hurts small businesses and constrains the economic benefits of legal cannabis—an industry that is estimated to reach $11 billion in sales this year(2018) and $23 billion by 2022. But in order to realize the benefits, we must act on legislation such as the STATES Act to help these businesses thrive.”'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/congressional-democrats-release-report-on-marijuana-legalizations-economic-benefits/
'With McGovern signing on to the Marijuana Justice Act, the total number of co-sponsors for the bill has reached 43. The legislation would amend the Controlled Substances Act to entirely remove cannabis from the list of federally banned substances. It would also withhold federal funds from states that disproportionately arrest or incarcerate low-income people or minorities for cannabis offenses.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/incoming-house-rules-chair-signs-on-to-far-reaching-marijuana-reform-bill/
'“Thanks to…the administration and a strong left-right coalition (the unusual suspects), historic criminal justice reform legislation is now law,” Jeffries tweeted on Friday. “Next step, Congress should DECRIMINALIZE MARIJUANA.”'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/high-ranking-house-democrat-calls-on-congress-to-decriminalize-marijuana-as-next-step/
Let us also not forget the small matter of the hundreds of other compounds that are found in low THC hemp which will be now be legally accessible...
'This bill offers a legal new path to growth for cannabis producers in the US. By some estimates, the CBD market is already a billion-dollar industry in the US. Passage of this bill opens the door for that market to greatly expand, offering revenue growth, funding for R&D and new products for consumers. And for the first time in a long time, I can say that (some) cannabis is legal in the US'
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jordanwaldrep/2019/01/03/how-cannabis-just-took-a-step-towards-legalization-in-the-us-farm-bill/
'Massachusetts is one of 10 states that has legalized recreational marijuana. But it's still illegal on the federal level, resulting in a confusing patchwork of conflicting laws. Michael Correia, known on Capitol Hill as "The Pot Lobbyist," is working to change this. WGBH Morning Edition anchor Joe Mathieu spoke with Correia while in Washington D.C. to talk about his efforts to legalize pot around the country and a recent attempt by Senator Elizabeth Warren to protect states that have already gotten that far.'
https://www.wgbh.org/news/national-news/2019/01/10/dc-pot-lobbyist-the-future-of-marijuana-legalization-on-capitol-hill
'“The Cannabis Caucus was the first of its kind to create a forum for elected officials to collaborate on ways to address our outdated federal marijuana laws,” Blumenauer, who released a blueprint to legalization in the 116th Congress last year, said. “Congress is clearly out of step with the American people on cannabis when national support for federal marijuana legalization is at an all-time high and we saw several states move toward legalization last November.”
“Over the last decade, I’ve worked to build understanding and consensus on the need for reform and our movement is cresting. I’m looking forward to working alongside Reps. Lee, Joyce and Young to build on the bipartisan work we’ve done to end the senseless federal prohibition on marijuana once and for all.”'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/new-congressional-cannabis-caucus-takes-shape/
'“While the bill number may be a bit tongue in cheek, the issue is very serious. Our federal marijuana laws are outdated, out of touch and have negatively impacted countless lives,” Blumenauer said in a press release. "Congress cannot continue to be out of touch with a movement that a growing majority of Americans support. It’s time to end this senseless prohibition.”
This isn't the first time that 420 has worked its way into official legislative numbering.'
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomangell/2019/01/09/new-congressional-marijuana-bill-is-actually-numbered-h-r-420/#d8bc5202e605
'As the 116th Congress begins, the momentum behind cannabis reform has reached an unprecedented level. Let’s take a look at the top three things you can expect from cannabis legislation in the newest congressional session'
https://thecannabisindustry.org/the-116th-congress-what-to-expect/
'Marijuana has long been a driving force in our country for mass incarceration. As co-chair the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, I know that we can end our nation’s outdated and discriminatory marijuana laws and bring about true criminal justice reform.'
https://twitter.com/BLeeForCongress/status/1084633951979876354
'Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), a member of Congress since 2013 and previously a Hawaii state legislator and Honolulu city councilmember, is seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination for president in 2020.
Here’s a look at where the congresswoman, who received a B+ grade from NORML as well as an earlier endorsement from the advocacy group, stands on marijuana reform.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/where-presidential-candidate-tulsi-gabbard-stands-on-marijuana/
'On Monday, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) announced that she’s running for president in 2020. The latest in a growing list of candidates hoping to take on President Donald Trump, Harris has made criminal justice reform—including marijuana legalization—a main component of her platform.
Though the former San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general hasn’t always been friendly to cannabis reform, Harris’s evolution on the issue has earned her an A grade from NORML.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/where-presidential-candidate-kamala-harris-stands-on-marijuana/
Now here are lawmakers working hard to meet the needs and demands of the people..an example and a lesson for lawmakers worldwide...
'Lawmakers across the country are introducing, debating and voting on more marijuana legislation than ever before.
In 2018, Marijuana Moment tracked 915 bills in state legislatures and Congress concerning cannabis, medical marijuana and hemp. According to our legislative analysis platform, a huge majority of states—92 percent—took up cannabis reform bills of some kind during the year.
This year, legislators in state capitols and on Capitol Hill have already filed more than 350 cannabis-related proposals for 2019 sessions that in most cases began only weeks ago. If 2018 is any indication, this year should see a sizable number of those bills making it to governors’ desks for enactment.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/2018-was-a-major-year-for-cannabis-legislation-and-2019-is-shaping-up-to-be-much-bigger/
'Marijuana is anything but boring. And the politics of cannabis gets more and more interesting by the minute. On the tails of the 2018 Farm Bill signed into law, as we predicted, hemp-derived CBD leads as the most controversial subject in the pot trade. Politicians and lawmakers are divided. Federal government agencies, like state agencies, have separate and distinct enforcement and regulatory authority which lends itself to polar opposite view points.'
https://thecannabisindustry.org/member-blog-federal-authorities-current-position-on-cannabis-in-2019/
'The 116th Congress just began, but there’s already been a flurry of new cannabis bills filed. Let’s take a look at some of the first pieces of legislation to be filed in the House of Representatives on the topic- H.R. 420: Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act; H.R. 493: Sensible Enforcement of Cannabis Act; H.R. 127: Compassionate Access, Research Expansion, and Respect States (CARERS) Act of 2019'
https://thecannabisindustry.org/three-new-bills-in-the-116th-congress/
'This level of disconnection between state and federal law cannot hold for much longer, and it might not have to. In the wake of the Farm Bill, the idea that Congress could remove marijuana from the list of scheduled drugs is now conceivable. After all,the plant is now legal; only the potency is in question. Maybe this year, for the first time, Blumenauer’s bill doesn’t seem so crazy. Nothing would solidify 2019 as marijuana’s biggest year yet more than a rollback of that half-century-old designation.
“It would not be shocking to see the end of federal marijuana prohibition signed into law this year,” Angell told me. “This is the first time that actually seems achievable.”'
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/01/21/marijuana-legalization-congress-224031
'Fifty-five percent of mayors in the survey agreed with the statement that “marijuana should be legalized, regulated and legally sold in your city.”
Only 35 percent disagreed with the idea of allowing cannabis sales in the cities they govern.
“Many mayors suggested that their views on marijuana were less about philosophy or values and more about practical challenges related to policy implementation,” the survey’s organizers said in summary of the key findings.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/most-u-s-mayors-support-legalizing-marijuana-survey-shows/
'All three bills filed so far contain language that more forcefully directs the VA to conduct medical marijuana studies as compared to earlier legislation that advanced in Congress last year. Instead of saying the VA secretary “may” research medical marijuana for veterans, as in the prior proposal, the latest bills use the word “shall.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/lawmakers-file-competing-medical-marijuana-research-bills-amid-language-dispute/
'Perhaps the foremost factor that could prove the dealmaker for marijuana reform in 2019 is the change in congressional makeup.
“A lot of the things that were stopping us in the past were chairmen in positions of power that just refused to engage at all,” said U.S. Rep. David Joyce, a Republican from Ohio.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/2019-marijuana-reform-congress/
Legalize it USA...there's too much ambiguity and that's not helping anybody...or is it maybe helping the pharma, petrochemical, tobacco, alcohol, military-industrial, soda and law enforcement bodies?
'"I still believe that the legislative process, rather than administrative guidance, is ultimately the right way to resolve whether and how to legalize marijuana," he wrote in a compilation of responses delivered to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sunday.
But even as Barr reiterated that he wouldn't go after people and businesses that benefited from the Cole memo, he voiced criticism of policy directives like it and of the idea of legalization in general.
"An approach based solely on executive discretion fails to provide the certainty and predictability that regulated parties deserve and threatens to undermine the rule of law," Barr wrote in response to a question from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA).'
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomangell/2019/01/28/trump-attorney-general-pick-puts-marijuana-enforcement-pledge-in-writing/#143ce9ac5435
'Major changes could be in store for marijuana policy coming from the nation’s capital under new Democratic control of the U.S. House and new leadership at the Department of Justice.
More and more states are defying federal law and making the drug legal for recreational use.
For an example of America’s tangled web of marijuana laws, look no further than Washington, DC. Congress passed laws making the drug illegal across the country, But just blocks away there’s a smoke shop where customers can buy marijuana for recreational use.'
https://www.wkrn.com/special-reports/pressure-growing-in-congress-to-change-federal-policy-on-marijuana/1741642002
'Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., introduced a bill on Friday to decriminalize marijuana and allow for it to be taxed and regulated. The bill is titled S. 420, in a reference to marijuana culture.
The proposal, identical to a bill in the House, aims to ease the longstanding conflict between states where cannabis is legal in some form and the U.S. government, which categorizes marijuana as a dangerous illegal drug, similar to LSD or heroin. The American Civil Liberties Union estimates that around half of all drug arrests are for marijuana possession. '
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/marijuana-legalization-senator-ron-wyden-introduces-s-420-a-bill-to-legalize-marijuana/
'“Today’s hearing was a big deal for the thousands of employees, businesses and communities across this country who have been put at risk because they have been forced to deal in piles of cash while Congress sticks its head in the sand,” Perlmutter, the other bill cosponsor, said in a press release. “The American voters have spoken and continue to speak, and the fact is you can’t put the genie back in the bottle. The SAFE Banking Act is focused solely on taking cash off the streets and making our communities safer, and only Congress can take these steps to provide this certainty for businesses and financial institutions across the country.”
“We listened to hours of testimony today about the dangerous position we put store owners and employees in by forcing them to do all of their business in cash. We can fix this. We don’t have to force them to operate in a way that makes it difficult to secure and track their funds,” Heck added. “Regardless of our views of marijuana use, the voters have decided in states all over this country that they want recreational and medicinal markets. To continue to do nothing to protect public safety would be negligence.”'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/key-moments-from-the-first-marijuana-hearing-of-the-new-congress/
'From his time as the mayor of Burlington, Vermont, to his years in the U.S. Senate, Sanders has established himself as a champion of drug policy reform, particularly when it comes to marijuana. NORML gave the senator an “A+” grade based on his legislative track record.
And it didn’t take long for Sanders to incorporate drug reform into his latest presidential bid. In his announcement video, he reiterated that the government “needs to end the destructive war on drugs.”
Sanders has been behind some of the first and most wide-ranging legislative efforts to fundamentally change federal cannabis laws. He was the first major presidential candidate to endorse marijuana legalization during his last bid and, in 2015, filed the first-ever Senate bill to end federal cannabis prohibition.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/where-presidential-candidate-bernie-sanders-stands-on-marijuana/
'It’s not enough to just legalize marijuana at the federal level—we should also expunge records of those who have served their time, and reinvest in communities hardest hit by the failed War on Drugs—which has really been a war on people.'
https://twitter.com/CoryBooker/status/1099398812865576961
'New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker reintroduced legislation that would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, effectively meaning state-legal cannabis businesses would not have to fear federal interference and could gain normal access to banking services.
The Marijuana Justice Act, first introduced by Booker and Rep. Barbara Lee, a California Democrat, in 2017, is being supported by presidential candidates including Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Kamala Harris of California, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. All are Democrats except for Sanders, who is an Independent.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/bill-reintroduced-in-us-senate-to-remove-cannabis-from-controlled-substances-act/
'The new legislation’s language is identical to that filed last Congress, with the exception that the community reinvestment fund covers fiscal years 2020 through 2042 instead of 2018 through 2040 as in the last version.
“The Marijuana Justice Act is the most comprehensive piece of federal legislation ever introduced to end the failed policy of marijuana prohibition and to address the egregious harms that this policy has wrought on already marginalized communities,” Justin Strekal, political director for NORML, said. “This robust legislation not only removes marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, but it also provides a path forward for the individuals and communities that have been most disproportionately impacted by our nation’s failed war on marijuana consumers.”'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/presidential-candidates-introduce-new-version-of-marijuana-justice-act/
'Specifically, the Marijuana Justice Act would automatically expunge federal criminal convictions for cannabis use and possession. It would establish a community reinvestment fund that would help pay for services like job training in areas hit hardest by the war on drugs. And in a nod to the ongoing racial disparities even in legal-cannabis states, it would withhold certain federal funding from states that disproportionately enforce cannabis laws against people of color or low-income communities.'
https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/the-latest-cannabis-bill-in-congress-would-do-more-than-just-legalize
'The governor of one of the first states to legalize marijuana announced that he’s seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination on Friday.
Although he was not on board with ending cannabis prohibition prior to voters having their say, Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee (D) has become a champion of his state’s legal marijuana market and came to its defense after the federal government seemed to be considering a crackdown. For that, he has earned top marks—an “A” grade—from NORML.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/where-presidential-candidate-jay-inslee-stands-on-marijuana/
'The Tribal Marijuana Sovereignty Act stipulates that the federal government can’t withhold funds or render Indian tribes ineligible for benefits, contracts or grants simply because they end their own prohibitions on the possession, cultivation or sale of cannabis.
It would also authorize physicians with the Indian Health Services, a federal program under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to “make medical recommendations to their patients with regard to marijuana and to complete forms reflecting such recommendations.”'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/gop-congressman-files-bill-to-protect-native-american-tribes-that-legalize-marijuana/
'The bill, titled the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, explicitly stipulates that proceeds from transactions conducted by marijuana companies “shall not be considered as proceeds from an unlawful activity solely because the transaction was conducted by a cannabis-related legitimate business or service provider.”
Nearly a quarter of the House, 108 members, has signed onto the bill as initial cosponsors, a spokesperson for Perlmutter told Marijuana Moment, and that includes nine Republicans. The last version, introduced in 2017, ended the 115th Congress with 95 cosponsors.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/new-marijuana-banking-bill-in-congress-has-106-cosponsors/
'Not only was the anticipated bipartisan SAFE Banking Act reintroduced on Thursday after a much-publicized congressional hearing last month, but two more members of the House of Representatives held a news conference on Capitol Hill to call for federal reforms.
Flanked by several cannabis advocates, U.S. Reps. Tulsi Gabbard, a Hawaii Democrat, and Don Young, an Alaska Republican, announced they’re reintroducing two measures that would advance the marijuana industry:
- The Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act would remove MJ from the list of federally controlled substances.
- The Marijuana Data Collection Act would study the impacts of cannabis legalization across the nation.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/three-marijuana-reform-bills-reintroduced-in-congress/
'Last week, HR 1595: the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act was introduced in the House of Representatives by Reps. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) and Denny Heck (D-WA). In a stunning, historic surprise, the legislation was introduced with a whopping 106 original cosponsors. That means that a quarter of the entire House of Representatives understands that the cannabis banking issue is untenable and must be addressed.
As a refresher, the SAFE Banking Act would prevent federal banking regulators from punishing banks for working with cannabis related businesses that are obeying state laws or halting their services, taking action on loans made to those businesses, or limiting a depository institution’s access to the Deposit Insurance Fund.
The bill would also protect ancillary businesses that work with the cannabis industry from being charged with money laundering and other financial crimes, and requires the Financial Institution Examination Council to develop guidance to help credit unions and banks understand how to lawfully serve cannabis businesses.'
https://thecannabisindustry.org/safe-banking-act-introduced-in-house-of-representatives/
'We need to invest in jobs and education for our kids, not more jails and incarceration. We need to end the destructive "war on drugs," eliminate private prisons and cash bail and bring about major police department reform.'
https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1109140682579415041
Dividing and harming the country by stalling important legislature..
'"As you know, marijuana is a schedule I controlled substance... The impact that many state laws, which have legalized marijuana, have on the federal laws governing the manufacturing, use, and sale of marijuana, including proceeds, raise many questions and concerns," Reps. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) wrote in a letter to Waters on Thursday. "Any change to these statutes, or those that impact them, has the potential to divide the Congress and the country. We must ensure that Congress has done its due diligence, including conducting thorough oversight and review, before moving such legislation."'
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomangell/2019/03/22/gop-lawmakers-want-marijuana-banking-vote-delayed-in-congress/#283689b64262
'A key U.S. House committee voted resoundingly Thursday to provide federal protection for financial institutions that serve state-authorized marijuana and ancillary businesses, a landmark development for cannabis banking legislation.
The House Financial Services Committee voted 45-15 to advance the bill, the Secure And Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, after amending it to include provisions to provide a safe harbor for insurance companies and improve access of financial services to minority- and women-owned cannabis businesses.
The full House is expected to vote on the bill within weeks.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/cannabis-banking-bill-advances-in-committee-full-us-house-vote-expected-within-weeks/
'A bipartisan group of senators and representatives in the U.S. Congress recently introduced the STATES (Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States) Act. The bill would prevent the federal government from intervening in states that have legalized marijuana. It would effectively make marijuana legal at the federal level in much of the U.S.
There has been plenty of skepticism about whether the STATES Act has a shot at passage. But there's one big reason why U.S. marijuana legalization might actually happen this year: politics.'
https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/04/09/1-big-reason-why-us-marijuana-legalization-might-a.aspx
'Barr signaled at a Senate appropriations hearing Wednesday that he is open to the approach outlined in legislation such as the States Act. Barr has circulated the legislation to the Department of Justice for review and comment.
The States Act, which was recently reintroduced in both chambers of Congress, would carve out an exemption in the federal Controlled Substances Act for state-legal marijuana programs.
“Personally, I would still favor one uniform federal rule against marijuana,” Barr said during the hearing Wednesday.
“But if there’s not sufficient consensus to obtain that, then I think the way to go is to permit a more federal approach so states can make their own decisions within the framework of a federal law so we’re not just ignoring the enforcement of federal law.”'
https://mjbizdaily.com/attorney-general-william-barr-federal-law-protecting-state-legal-marijuana-trumps-current-situation/
Let's hope for the sake of the world that the prediction is true...
'“I don’t think there will ever be another president who will be anti-cannabis. It won’t happen,” the congressman said. “Either the Republicans or the Democrats. It is something that is supported overwhelmingly by the American public, it’s supported by a majority of Republicans and Democrats. It ain’t going to happen.”
What does that mean for former Vice President Joe Biden, who is expected to launch a run for the 2020 Democratic nomination and has an extensive history of supporting punitive, anti-drug legislation?
“Nobody is going to survive the nominating process who doesn’t have a reasonable position on cannabis,” Blumenauer said when asked specifically about Biden’s anti-legalization record. “They will not be nominated. I say that unequivocally.”'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/congressman-predicts-the-u-s-will-never-elect-another-anti-cannabis-president/
'If there were any questions about whether marijuana was going to be a hot political topic in 2019, these and a flurry of other recent speeches from governors across the country should put those doubts to rest.
Besides the four who spoke about marijuana in major addresses on Tuesday, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) again committed to fully legalizing cannabis during his inaugural address on Monday. And last week, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) said in his State of the State speech that the lack of action on medical cannabis was “hurting” patients, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) advocated for decriminalization in his State of the Commonwealth address and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) touted hemp and legal marijuana during his State of the State address.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/four-governors-talk-marijuana-reform-during-major-speeches-in-a-single-day/
'What makes a marijuana Nor’easter notable versus other markets across the country is that state lawmakers and governors are spearheading the legalization effort rather than voters.
“New Jersey is the catalyst,” cannabis attorney Rob DiPisa of Cole Schotz told Marijuana Business Daily. “New York City is going to be the game changer.”'
https://mjbizdaily.com/northeast-states-adult-use-marijuana-multibillion-dollar-markets/
'The number of states with legal marijuana is expected to jump significantly in 2019, and a slew of already-filed bills offers a look at what those new legal cannabis systems might look like.
While marijuana legalization legislation has already been introduced in at least 17 states—including several traditionally conservative ones—there are 10 that seem to hold the most promise of passage at this point.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/the-10-states-marijuana-legalization-bills-most-likely-to-pass-in-2019/
'The former Newark, New Jersey mayor has been a consistent critic of the war on drugs and has introduced some of the boldest marijuana legislation ever seen in Congress, earning him an A+ grade from NORML.
It is abundantly clear that Booker would be a powerful advocate for federal marijuana reform if elected president. His consistent condemnation of the drug war, in addition to his leadership on the issue of legalization in the Senate (particularly his sponsorship of the Marijuana Justice Act), makes him one of the fiercest proponents of reform in Congress. It stands to reason that he’d continue that work in the White House.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/where-presidential-candidate-cory-booker-stands-on-marijuana/
'Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) had some strong words of criticism for the criminal justice system and the pharmaceutical industry during her formal presidential campaign launch speech on Saturday.
The congresswoman, who first revealed last month that she was running for her party’s presidential nomination in 2020, said it is imperative to “stand up against private prisons who are profiting off the backs of people who are caught up in a broken criminal justice system.”
That same system, she said, “puts people in prison for smoking marijuana while allowing corporations like Purdue Pharma, who are responsible for the opioid-related deaths of thousands of people, to walk away scot-free with their coffers full.”'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/tulsi-gabbard-wants-big-pharma-punished-instead-of-marijuana-consumers/
'Other witnesses include California State Treasurer Fiona Ma, who has advocated for financing reform at the state and federal levels to make it easier for marijuana businesses to open bank accounts, access credit and pay taxes electronically, rather than in cash.
The cannabis market “is the biggest underground economy we have, so we’re trying to bring them into the light, and having some kind of banking is important,” Ma said last year. “Paying your taxes with duffel bags full of cash isn’t safe or efficient for anyone involved.”'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/heres-who-will-testify-about-marijuana-on-capitol-hill-next-week/
Diversionary tactics to protect their own interests by the guys in the driver's seats ...
'With most major drug loads coming through ports of entry rather than isolated parts of the border, former DEA Deputy Administrator Jack Riley said the government should be focusing on better manpower and screening at official channels.
“It is far too risky and expensive for any of the cartels to move high-volume drugs through those desolate, really unwalled areas,” Riley told HuffPost. “I’m a little confused as to why our guy in the White House really doesn’t understand that. ... On the drug side, we know that nearly 80 percent of all the drugs we’re dealing with ? coke, heroin, methamphetamine, fentanyl and marijuana ? they come through existing ports of entry.”'
https://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/trump-border-wall-drugs-el-chapo-dea-jack-riley_n_5c66dd0de4b05c889d1ebdc6
'This isn’t the first event of this nature in U.S. history. Producing insurmountable suffering and hardship, the so-called ‘Prohibition Period’ between 1920-1933 – referring to the 13-year ban on alcohol – was largely regarded as a large-scale political failure. Cannabis prohibition has yielded similar consequences, with both events leading to an influx in organized crime, attacks on minorities, and ironically, a rise in drug use.
Recognizing the parallels between these two time periods can help us make informed decisions about the future, no matter what our political alignments may happen to be. So what lessons can we take from America’s first prohibition?'
https://www.leafly.com/news/cannabis-101/cannabis-legalization-lessons-from-alcohol-prohibition
'By the 1930s, long before the years of “Just Say No,” federal officials were actively working to expand the stigma around cannabis. Harry Anslinger, who during the era of alcohol prohibition had become the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, “took the scientifically unsupported idea of marijuana as a violence-inducing drug, connected it to black and Hispanic people, and created a perfect package of terror to sell to the American media and public,” Bender writes. The propaganda helped push forward the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, the first piece of national legislation to outlaw cannabis.
Black men were also demonized as criminals by anti-pot rhetoric. “In Southern states with large black populations, fears of violent black smokers led to marijuana laws,” Bender added. “‘Marijuana was scapegoated as prompting murder, rape, and mayhem among blacks in the South, Mexican Americans in the Southwest, and disfavored white immigrants from laboring classes—with marijuana being blamed for the seduction of white girls by black men and for violent crimes committed by these groups.”'
https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/americas-war-on-drugs-has-been-racist-for-a-century
'Many of the original architects of America’s drug war have retired or passed away. Biden remains one of the few still in power—and may soon reach for more.
His influence over drug policy and mass incarceration began in the 1980s, when, as a senator from Delaware, he served as chair of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee.
Policies Biden personally put into place greatly expanded a racist, ineffective, costly, unjust and oppressive quagmire that was already an obvious failure when he first entered government service nearly 50 years ago. That same self-destructive drug war rages on today—in America and around the world.'
https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/joe-bidens-drug-war-record-is-so-much-worse-than-you-think
'Marijuana legalization advocates came into 2019 expecting it to be a huge year for cannabis, and lawmakers around the country are not disappointing them so far.
This month alone, bills to legalize and regulate marijuana for adults have advanced through key committees in at least four states'
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomangell/2019/02/27/marijuana-legalization-bills-are-advancing-in-several-states/#3349ebf47a35
'The legislation, filed by Reps. Charlie Crist (D-FL) and Don Young (R-AK), along with eight other cosponsors, is designed to provide protections for federal workers who consume cannabis in compliance with state law. Under current law, federal employees can be terminated—or not even hired in the first place—over marijuana, regardless of state law.
As Crist’s office noted in a bill summary obtained by Marijuana Moment, this policy has a disproportionate impact on veterans, many of whom have turned to medical cannabis to treat pain and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Military veterans represent about one-third of the federal workforce.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/bipartisan-bill-shields-federal-workers-from-being-fired-for-marijuana/
'That information could come into play as presidential campaign season heats up. Candidates hoping to appeal to independent voters, who represent 38 percent of the electorate, wouldn’t be winning much favor by taking an anti-legalization stance.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/independent-voters-support-marijuana-legalization-regardless-of-partisan-lean-poll-shows/
'The drug pushers at Big Pharma have enough crooked politicians in their pocket to maintain the appearance of legality - that’s the only difference between them & every other global drug cartel. I’m for legalizing marijuana & holding Big Pharma accountable'
https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard/status/1108726875222888449
'Calls for clarity on the banking issue have been widespread. Last week, the presidents of three Federal Reserve banks urged lawmakers to pass legislation that would provide guidance to financial regulators on servicing cannabis businesses. These companies have made clear to Congress that the existing situation, which has forced the industry to operate on a largely cash-only basis, is untenable.
Not only does that make the businesses targets of crime, but Mnuchin said the IRS “cash rooms” for cannabis-related tax deposits also create “all different types of security issues.”
“There is not a Treasury solution to this. There is not a regulator solution to this,” he said. “If this is something that Congress wants to look at on a bipartisan basis, I’d encourage you to do this. This is something where there is a conflict between federal and state law that we and the regulators have no way of dealing with.”'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/treasury-secretary-calls-for-bipartisan-fix-to-marijuana-banking-issues/
'At the close of 2018, the U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams called on the federal government to rethink marijuana’s classification as it pertains to medical research. While the Surgeon General did not go so far as to condone legalization for recreational use, he did say that medically, marijuana should be studied, noting, “While I support local solutions to help solve our national public health challenges, they must be led by science driven policy. Currently, NIH funded research on marijuana is pressing forward and we are making progress in studying marijuana and its impact on the human brain, body, and behavior as well as on our communities. We should continue to seek ways to encourage and enable research to best inform policies regarding the potential medicinal properties of marijuana.”'
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicolefisher/2019/01/07/surgeon-general-believes-its-high-time-for-marijuana-reclassification/
'On Wednesday, lawmakers in Kentucky and West Virginia put forward pieces of legalization legislation, the latest in a growing list of states where the thought of lawmakers even considering full legalization would have been implausible just a couple years ago.
Legislatures in Indiana, Missouri, Texas and Virginia could also vote on legalization bills that have already been introduced this year.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/marijuana-legalization-bills-already-filed-in-half-a-dozen-red-states-for-2019-sessions/
'So the DEA, the FDA and the US Department of Agriculture all have to discuss what to do now that hemp has been legalized. Mangone says that he thinks new federal regulations about hemp production will come during the first months of 2019.'
https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/does-the-farm-bill-
In alphabetical order - Connecticut, Illinois, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont...
'"In state after state, lawmakers are coming out of the woodwork in favor of legalization," Justin Strekal, political director for NORML, said. "Be it on the grounds of criminal justice reform, community-police relations, racial justice, tax revenue or that they just see the writing on the wall, the political evolutions are accelerating at a tremendous rate."'
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomangell/2018/12/26/these-states-are-most-likely-to-legalize-marijuana-in-2019/#6d3bc7a25add
'Murphy: When you think about the medicinal value of cannabis, and the fact that the Food and Drug Administration has given approval for a cannabis-derived drug produced in the United Kingdom, I think that legalization of medicinal, at minimum, is probably closer than many think in the United States.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/cannabis-global-progress-qa-with-acreage-ceo-kevin-murphy-and-ex-canadian-pm-brian-mulroney/
“Ordinarily when there is a conflict between state and federal law and there is some question as to whether the state law is obstructing or preempted by the federal law, the tie usually goes to the state,” Manheim said. “The rule works the other direction when we’re talking about things of paramount federal importance, and immigration is one of those.”
https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/when-state-and-federal-laws-conflict-who-wins?
Not only is the caucus, headed by Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA), seeking federal cannabis reform, the Jobs and Justice Act would also establish a “reinvestment fund” for communities adversely impacted by the war on drugs. That would include grants for job training, funds to clear past cannabis convictions, public libraries and community centers, according to the text of the bill.
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/congressional-black-caucus-pushes-major-marijuana-reforms/
A bipartisan group of congressional lawmakers submitted three far-reaching cannabis amendments to a House agricultural bill on Friday. Two of the measures would legalize hemp, a non-psychoactive cousin of marijuana, and another would allow banks to provide financial services to hemp businesses.
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/congress-considers-three-hemp-amendments-to-farm-bill/
The House Appropriations Committee approved, by a bipartisan voice vote, an amendment by Rep. David Joyce, an Ohio Republican and former prosecutor, to attach the medical marijuana protections to the FY2019 Commerce, Justice and Science appropriations bill.
https://mjbizdaily.com/powerful-congressional-panel-puts-medical-marijuana-protections-in-federal-budget/
'"I support Senator Gardner. I know exactly what he's doing," Trump told reporters in Washington, when asked about the legislation. "We're looking at it. But I probably will end up supporting that, yes."'
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-trump-marijuana-ban-20180608-story.html
'When the Senate Appropriations Committee killed an amendment last month that would have offered legal protection to banks that want to work with cannabis-related companies, they dealt a blow to an industry that, whether they like it or not, is on a serious growth trajectory.'
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nickkovacevich/2018/07/05/defeat-of-marijuana-banking-bill-will-hurt-job-growth-and-economy/#4ec3090575c7
'Public support for cannabis legalization is one of the fastest-evolving social issues in the U.S., and political winds have been shifting with expanding markets and social acceptance. Such momentum is only expected to add impetus as Canada’s nationwide legalized market opens for business this autumn'
https://newfrontierdata.com/marijuana-insights/trying-catch-crest-cannabis-wave-summer/
'For all states, we need policy evaluations that are flexible, nuanced, contextualized, and sensitive to the complexity of evolving state-level cannabis policies. We offer four recommendations for future cannabis policy evaluations and highlight their relevance using examples from Washington’s history. '
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0022042616678607
'With Texas, as well as some of the nation’s deepest-red states, like Utah and Oklahoma, moving forward with marijuana policy changes, all Republicans will have to pick a side on legalization, as well as affirming states’ right to choose what works for them. “This is not something that is going to stop at the edges of Colorado or California,” Gardner warns. “This is going to march across the country. It’s an opportunity for Republicans to practice what they preach.”'
https://www.newsweek.com/2018/08/24/legal-weed-republicans-love-marijuana-1072761.html
'“Our veterans have sacrificed so much for our country – the least we can do is provide them with the care and support they deserve when they return home. Prohibiting research on any viable treatment option does nothing to serve our veterans – which is why the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, along with many other veterans groups, support the VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act. I will continue working to help our country better serve and care for our veterans,” said Senator Van Hollen.'
http://iava.org/press-release/senator-van-hollen-cosponsors-iava-backed-cannabis-research-legislation/
'The bipartisan bill would require the Surgeon General to report to Congress on the health effects of new psychoactive substances, including synthetic drugs, on young adults ranging from 12-18 years of age.'
https://www.hassan.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-hassan-cassidy-jones-and-young-introduce-bipartisan-synthetic-drug-awareness-act
'In an ironic twist, the committee complained in one memo that the narrative around marijuana is unfairly biased in favor of the drug. But rather than seek objective information, the committee’s records show it is asking officials only to portray marijuana in a negative light, regardless of what the data show.'
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/dominicholden/trump-secret-committee-anti-marijuana
In the United States, support for marijuana legalization is increasingly becoming a differentiator in terms of who wins political battles..not supporting legalization in the face of widespread public support can be problematic irrespective of which party you belong to..
'A top Republican leader in Congress is questioning U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s decision to rescind protections for local marijuana laws and says that letting states implement legalization means “we get to see the laboratories of democracy at work.”'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/a-top-house-republican-questions-jeff-sessionss-anti-marijuana-moves/
'Both the CHC and CBC events also incorporated discussion about issues that have evolved in states post-legalization—namely, how racially discriminatory marijuana enforcement efforts have had residual effects on individuals previously convicted of a cannabis-related offense. Reform advocates have pushed for inclusive marijuana policies that empower those most impacted by the drug war to be represented in the legal industry.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/congressional-black-and-hispanic-caucuses-focus-on-marijuana-reform-at-events/
'The Senate on Monday overwhelming approved a sweeping legislative package of bills aimed at combating the nation's deadly opioid epidemic.'
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/senate-passes-sweeping-legislation-combat-opioid-epidemic-n908901
'While the move sent Tilray’s stock soaring, at least one congressman is questioning the move. “Unbelievable,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) tweeted on Wednesday. “DEA gives approval to import cannabis compounds from Canada, while AG Sessions is sitting on 2 dozen+ applications from domestic manufacturers.”'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/congressman-wants-feds-to-buy-american-marijuana-instead-of-importing-from-canada/
"Soon enough “reefer madness” will become the truly historic relic that it is. The few out-of-touch elected officials and candidates who hang on to that outdated and false notion will be left behind by the times and voters. It’s time for Congress to get in the game and represent the will of the people to end the failed prohibition of marijuana." — Congressman David Joyce (R-OH)
https://thecannabisindustry.org/reports/the-new-politics-of-marijuana-a-winning-opportunity-for-either-party/
'This has the possibility to be another banner year for the cannabis legalization movement, with up to six states potentially legalizing some form of cannabis by the end of 2018'
https://mjbizdaily.com/chart-strong-support-for-marijuana-legalization-ballot-initiatives-ahead-of-2018-election/
'[Pete] Sessions, as chairman of the House Rules Committee, has systematically blocked votes on cannabis-related legislation by his colleagues on Capitol Hill. Measures on everything from expanding access to medical marijuana for veterans to protecting legal cannabis states from federal interference have been dead upon arrival. Even hemp is a no-go with Sessions at the helm of the powerful committee.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/leading-congressional-marijuana-opponent-in-danger-of-losing-seat-polls-find/
'In the new joint letter, the representatives point to the hypocrisy of Trump’s executive order to “Buy American and Hire American” while American marijuana suppliers awaiting approval continue to go ignored.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/lawmakers-ask-why-trumps-buy-american-policy-doesnt-apply-to-marijuana/
'Some concern full marijuana legalization and others would allow medical cannabis, while one is about the definition of hemp. Some are statewide measures and others are local in nature. Some are constitutional amendments, while others are statutory changes. And some are binding as compared to others that are advisory measures which simple give voters a chance to express their opinions to elected officials. All told, there are 36 separate major cannabis reform measures on the ballot next month, across seven states (in addition to a larger number of local marijuana tax and licensing proposals).'
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomangell/2018/10/03/voters-in-seven-states-will-see-these-marijuana-questions-on-election-day/#33da5ba417c5
'The bill’s passage comes a year after President Trump declared the opioid crisis a national emergency. The Senate vote is the last step before he signs the measure into law. The House passed it 393 to 8 last week.'
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/10/03/senate-is-poised-send-sweeping-opioids-legislation-president-trump/?utm_term=.2c772f409608
'Next month, voters in seven states will get the chance to approve or reject a number of far-reaching marijuana proposals. But one thing many people don’t realize is that you don’t have to wait until November 6 to make your voice heard: many states allow for early or absentee voting, and people across the country are already voting on cannabis initiatives today, as you read this.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/the-marijuana-election-has-already-begun-no-need-to-wait-until-november-6-to-vote-on-cannabis/
'Four bills to legalize and tax the sale of marijuana were introduced last year, but each died in committee hearing rooms. This year legislators have — yet again — vowed to present legalization bills
In the absence of interest from the executive branch, only Congress can take permanent action to remove cannabis from Schedule 1 and the Controlled Substances Act entirely. Only Congress can opt to regulate retail cannabis at the federal level just like alcohol, tobacco and firearms, to force the Drug Enforcement Agency to allow for more scientific research and the Food and Drug Administration to allow cannabinoid compounds in its regulatory process, which is needed for its acceptance in mainstream medicine.'
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/cloud-of-uncertainty-looms-over-legalized-pot-as-feds-nix-obama-era-accommodation/
'Today’s a new day in the swamp, and supportive lawmakers are coming out of the gates swinging, signaling to marijuana supporters across the nation that this time around what was formerly just viewed as rhetoric now has a strong chance of becoming reality.'
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/cannabis-weed-could-be-legal-federally-778793/
'Liberal states had higher past-year CU (cannabis use), but lower CUD(cannabis use disorder) prevalence among users, compared to conservative states. Researchers and policy makers should consider how the broader policy environment, independent of MCL, may contribute to CU outcomes.'
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S095539591830272X
States and countries that have legalized marijuana appear more open to reforming outdated policies and seem to have a more evolved mindset. They exhibit more religious, social and cultural acceptance and tolerance compared to the states and countries that are yet to legalize.
'A study recently published in the journal Contemporary Drug Problems offers some answers. Researchers looked at each state’s marijuana laws and analyzed their political, demographic, economic and social characteristics to identify various trends associated with legalization.
Specifically, they wanted to know whether there were statistically significant differences among states that were early or late adopters of medical cannabis laws or adult-use legalization as compared to non-legal states. The results indicate that differences do exist, often in ways that might not be apparent at first glance.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/states-with-more-immigrants-are-more-likely-to-legalize-marijuana-study-finds/
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